Vanguard
by Foxmerc
Summary: Third and final installment of the Overlord Trilogy! FINAL CLASH, EPILOGUE, and AFTERWORD uploaded!
1. Prologue

[Author's Note, June 2009: Like with the previous two stories in this trilogy, I am posting a disclaimer warning that the quality of this story is in my opinion not representative of the quality of my more current fics like Mercenary Wars and One Death Away. While I think I improved quite a bit between Shattered Past and Vanguard, the entire Overlord Trilogy was my first foray into writing and should be noted as such. However, this fic introduced a mainstay in my stories and my first truly fleshed out original character, Gage Birse, so I can't be too harsh on it. =) I hope you enjoy it in any case, I sure loved writing the entire trilogy! –Foxmerc]

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[Author's Note: This is the third and final installment of the trilogy, following "Shattered Past, Hero's Vengeance" and "Blood Feud", and many references to them are made in this story. In order to fully understand the plot, it is recommended that you read them first. Stefan Chuzie, Gage Birse, Jay Ecklin, and Vicenzia Hohleran are my original characters and Charon Bond is property of Keiron Halycon. Please ask permission before using these characters. Thanks for reading and enjoy! --Foxmerc]

**Vanguard**

By, Foxmerc  
Edited, JPB and JJC

Review

_The healing and guiding light in Fox McCloud's life had been violently extinguished before his eyes. Seeing that his plan to frame McCloud was on the verge of failing, Stefan Chuzie, leader of mercenary team IceStorm, headed a direct assault on the Great Fox. Through fierce fighting, StarFox's defense held against the onslaught as the battle waged from space to the Great Fox's own corridors. Victory was at hand when the unthinkable became reality._  
_Vicenzia "Vixy" Hohleran, Fox's fiancé to whom he proposed only hours before, was shot in the confrontation with Stefan. Fox felt that his life was taken that day along with that of his love, and his team was doubtful of his recovery. Falco Lombardi saved his friend's life just as he was about to end it by his own hand. Yet, even after these grueling struggles, the spirit of Vixy's love found its way back into Fox's life, and he found the strength to bring down IceStorm and clear his name._  
_Following the formal public apology to McCloud by the Cornerian government, normal life resumed for StarFox, but the memories of Vixy and her horrible death haunted Fox's dreams. It has been over a year since the entire incident, and StarFox has taken a few small jobs to keep their funds up and get back into routine._  
_However, that routine is about to be broken once again. Venom took advantage of StarFox's weakness during McCloud's false accusation to begin a project, a last-ditch effort to becoming a formidable force in the Lylat System once again…_

PROLOGUE  
_Eight months after Vixy's death_  
_Thirty miles off the coast of Corneria City_  
_0217 hours_

The calm, smooth ocean stretched in every direction, disappearing from sight into the endless darkness. Small waves lapped against the gray metal side of the cargo ship _C.S. Amaya_ as it lazily cut through the water, its humming engine the only sound breaking the tranquility. The clear sky revealed infinite stars and, to the observant viewer, the planets of the Lylat System.

Private Kynser was one such observant person. The leopard stared into space for only seconds before he spotted Fortuna, his home. He brought his head back down and leaned on the guardrail surrounding the deck of the ship, taking another long drag of his cigarette and tossing the butt overboard. The gentle motion of the ocean held his gaze as he tried to think of a way to keep deck guard duty instead of relieving the cargo hold guard. He loved the clean air and openness of the ocean, and hated being holed up inside. The commander had already heard all of his good excuses, and no good ones were coming to him.

Kynser sighed and turned to head back inside when he noticed something. The humming of the engine seemed louder, higher. He slowly swiveled his head, trying to hear it better, and thought that it sounded like two engines. One sounded like it was coming from above him.

The leopard grabbed for the rifle slung over his shoulder and snapped his head up. The last thing he saw was a red glow as a laser cut through the night and hit him in the forehead. He fell straight back without a sound, a pool of blood spreading on the metal deck under his head.

The dropship hovered above the deck while the shooter scanned the rest of the deck. After pronouncing it clear, two ropes were dropped from either side of the dropship and eight black-clad figures silently slid down them, their faces hidden by black hoods. All had identical silenced assault rifles, aimed in every direction in a defensive perimeter around the dropship.

The shooter and first down the rope, Captain Gage Birse, saw that his team was down and clear and radioed to the dropship.

"Dagger One to Delivery Boy, all elements clear. Provide us air support until reconnaissance is complete."

"Roger, Dagger One."

"Dagger Three and Four, secure stern and port sides, Five and Six stay here in aft and cover starboard. Seven and Eight head inside and secure the bridge. Me and Two will recon the cargo holds."

Birse received affirmatives from his team as they moved to their assigned positions, shadows blending into the darkness. Dagger Two, gray wolf Lieutenant Forte, jogged up to Birse, recognizable only by his tail. "Ready boss?"

"Let's go, keep an eye on our asses."

"Hey, I'm married," Forte replied, and Birse knew he was grinning under his hood. He rolled his eyes and moved towards the heavy metal door that lead inside. The brisk night and saltwater smell gave way to heat and stuffy air, the sparkling stars turned to rusty metal and dim light.

"This is Dagger Seven, bridge secure."

Birse pulled the door shut behind him with a grunt and replied, "Roger that Seven, search the bridge for the ship's manifest and destination."

"Yes sir."

Birse motioned to Forte and they moved slowly in a half crouch down the dimly lit beige corridor, rifles pointed straight ahead. Just as the blueprints from military intelligence had promised, a staircase leading down awaited them at the end of the corridor. Birse yanked open the door as he heard a burst of muffled popping sounds. He spun around and fell to a knee in time to see a figure collapse to the floor, the barrel of Forte's gun lightly smoking.

Birse let out his breath and opened the door the rest of the way, revealing a winding metal staircase leading down. "This is One. Seven, cut power to all sub-decks."

"You got it, sir."

Moments later the bottom half of the stairwell disappeared in darkness. Birse and Forte unclipped their nightvision goggles from their vests and slid them over their heads. Birse signaled to Forte to follow him as his eyes adjusted to the green haze.

Halfway down the staircase, Birse heard footsteps rapidly coming up it and put up his fist as a signal to stop. The figure that came sprinting into Birse's view was greeted by a burst of lasers that sent him tumbling back down the stairs to the landing.

"Venom soldiers," Forte said with a sigh. "They're just not a challenge anymore."

"Don't get cocky," Birse replied, resuming the descent. "One lucky shot is all it takes, one little slip."

"I know, I know."

The next landing down held a door marked "Cargo Hold". Birse opened the door and the duo moved down the short hallway to a large metal door with "Stand Clear" marked on the side.

"This is it," Birse said, slinging his rifle. "Cover me."

Forte aimed his rifle down the hall behind them as Birse pulled hard on the door with a grunt. It slowly screeched open and a foul smell, like an open sewer, wafted into the hall.  
"God," Forte said, swiveling his head around. "What the hell is that smell?"

Birse shrugged and readied his rifle again, slowly moving into the cargo hold. Through the green haze he saw a huge room, the size of a few gymnasiums, filled with hundreds of objects…moving objects. Why were living things in a cargo hold?

Birse ripped off his goggles and said, "Seven, lights!"

A few seconds later, the lights flickered on in the cargo hold. Birse stared into the room, speechless at what he saw.

"Gage?" Forte said from behind him, joining him at the door.

"My God…" Birse whispered, removing his hood to reveal his red fur and white muzzle. His eyes met the wide, fearful eyes of hundreds of people of all species and all ages, male and female alike. They were overly stuffed into the room like crates, all of them chained to the walls or floor, some only half clothed. The smell became stronger as Birse took a step into the room, and his eye caught a small canine, no more than six years old, clinging to his weary mother, looking at him and crying.

"Dagger Seven to Dagger One. We found the ship's paper work. It's headed for a spaceport on the coast with a ship bound for Venom. And the cargo…you're never going to believe this… it's---"

"It's a slave ship," Birse muttered, finishing his teammate's sentence. A few moments of silence ensued, broken only by the creaking and groaning of the ship's hull. Birse had never seen anything like the scene in front of him, and it started to make him nauseous. The smell of the hundreds of people packed into an enclosed area with no bathroom didn't help.

"But why would Venom risk this?" Forte asked, backing out of the room. "What do they need slave labor for?"

Birse slowly shook his head. "What the hell is going on…?"


	2. Shadows of the Past

  
CHAPTER 1   
Shadows of the Past   
_Six months later_   
_Great Fox, Fox's quarters_   
_0136 hours_   
  
  


_It was the best day of Fox McCloud's life. The sun shone high in the sky, casting heavenly rays through the tall windows of the church, the same one his parents had been married at. The high rafters and stone walls echoed the beautiful sounds of the organ's procession music while the countless guests in the pews turned to watch the bride. Fox stood at the end of the red-and-white carpet and glanced at his parents in the front row, his father smiling at him and his mother wiping a tear from her eye. He smiled back and looked again at Vixy, escorted down the aisle by her father. Fox's heart started beating harder in anticipation and excitement and he tugged at the collar of his tuxedo.___

_ Edward Hohleran placed a hand on Fox's shoulder and handed his daughter's arm to him. Fox took it and gazed through the thin white veil into Vixy's wide eyes. She gazed back, and Fox could see a tear sparkling in her left eye. He was beginning to get choked up himself. Reluctantly, they broke their gaze and turned to the priest on the altar, an old white tiger, again the same who had married his parents. They stood hand-in-hand under the shining rays of light, ready to pledge their love for each other.___

_ The priest cleared his throat and began. "Do you, Fox McCloud, take Vicenzia Hohleran for your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"___

_ Fox looked again into Vixy's eyes, swallowing back his tears long enough for him to say, "I do."___

_ "Do you, Vicenzia Hohleran, take Fox McCloud for your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"___

_ The gray vixen gazed back into Fox's eyes and opened her mouth to speak…but stopped. The light in the church seemed to dim a little as her eyes widened into a look of surprise. She looked down slowly, hand over her chest. Fox followed her stare and saw blood seeping out of her white wedding dress, oozing over her hand and dripping to the floor.___

_ "Fox…" she whispered, and went limp in his arms. Fox was speechless. He had no idea what was happening and looked around for help, but no one in the pews moved…except his parents. Fox reeled back as their fur and skin melted off their bones and turned to dust, leaving their skeletons to fall to the ground.___

_ Fox frantically looked around, sobbing and shouting for help, praying to the God who was letting Vixy die in his house. She lay motionless on the carpet, her blood soaking it and expanding a pool. Fox looked up to the priest, the one man who was sure to help, and instead saw a black jaguar in a black-and-blue uniform, grinning and holding a smoking blaster. He shifted the aim of the gun from Vixy to Fox's head and grinned the same humorless grin. But Fox didn't care. His life, his dreams, his hopes and future were lying dead on the floor.___

_ Stefan pulled the trigger…_   


Fox's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing heavily, his body covered in cold sweat. He looked around the room slowly, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, slowly remembering where he was. The dream was still burned into his mind, Vixy's voice still echoing in his ears. It had happened again. 

Fox sighed and collapsed onto his back again, covering his eyes with his arm just as his door flew open. Falco stood in his doorway in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, his feathers a mess. 

"What the hell was that?" he said, looking around the room. "Are you ok?" 

Fox sat up again, his heart slowing to a normal pace. "Yeah, I'm fine. Was I shouting again?" 

Falco let out his breath and leaned on the wall. "Loud enough to wake up only half of Corneria from here. The dream again?" 

Fox nodded. The same dream had played over in his mind countless nights since Vixy's death, but he hadn't actually screamed in most of them. "I haven't had it in a while, I thought they were finally over." He shook his head and lay back down on his damp sheets. 

Falco tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. He was no good at this kind of stuff. Whenever Fox was like this, Peppy would take care of it, but he and Slippy left for vacation a week before. Falco and Fox had their turn for a vacation when Peppy and Slippy got back. 

"Well…"Falco started, grabbing for words. 

Fox chuckled lightly. "It's ok man, don't strain yourself. I'll be fine." 

Falco nodded, relieved and annoyed at the same time. "Just try to get some more sleep, and keep it down this time." 

Fox grinned weakly as his friend left the room, closing the door behind him. That was about the best anyone could get out of Falco. 

The grin faded as Fox was left alone in the dark room to remember the horrible dream. He turned on his side and closed his eyes, trying to drive it out of his mind. He was close to succeeding when another thought entered his head. The conversation he had with Peppy right before they left for Katina after Fox had been framed. Fox had asked Peppy is he was doing the right thing, and wished his father was there. 

'_It never goes away, does it?_' 

Fox remembered his own voice asking that questions to which he already knew the answer. The pain of losing a loved one, their memory. 

_It never goes away._   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


_Great Fox, bridge_   
_1026 hours_   
  
  


Fox snapped his head up and groaned as he began dozing off for the tenth time in as many minutes. He hadn't fallen asleep again after the dream, and he had no desire to try again. It was still too fresh in his mind. Instead he had spent the whole morning in the commander's chair on the bridge, staring idly out into space and watching ROB do whatever Slippy programmed him to do. 

'_It's this damn chair, it's too comfortable._' 

With that decided, Fox stood up and stretched as he heard the low hydraulic whistle of the bridge door sliding open. He turned and saw Falco walk in, smoothing the feathers on his head. 

"You just wake up?" Fox asked, rubbing his eyes. 

"Yeah, for some reason I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night," Falco replied, the sarcasm nearly tangible. "What about you, you look like hell." 

"I didn't go back to sleep." 

"Damn man. You've been up here with that bucket all morning?" He gestured towards ROB. Fox nodded. "Well, that's not going to help anything. Come on, let's go to the range, I'll show you how to shoot." 

Fox rolled his eyes. "Can you even remember the last time you beat me in a shooting competition." 

"Sure," Falco replied, heading for the door. "I'll tell you later." 

Fox grinned and started to follow when ROB's monotonous voice sounded in his ear. "Incoming call, request location instructions." 

"We're right here, ROB. Put it on hologram." 

The bridge was the only room in the ship that had a hologram receiver, all the others had screens. Slippy promised that once they had the money, he could put holograms in the other rooms, but Fox was doubtful. They were barely bringing in enough money to maintain the ship. As much as he didn't want to, Fox knew they would have to start taking the bigger jobs soon. He would have to put the past behind him. 

Fox sat back in the commander's chair, hoping he wouldn't doze off while talking to whoever was calling, while Falco slumped into a swivel chair and faced the hologram receiver. After a few beeps, a blue light sparkled over the receiver, followed by General Pepper's head. Fox was a bit surprised at how old he looked, but he thought it could've been the hologram playing tricks on his perception. 

"Good morning Fox, Falco." Pepper squinted towards Fox. "Are you ok Fox?" 

Fox realized he was resting his head on his hand, his eyes only half open, and straightened up. "Yeah, sorry. Rough night." 

"For both of us," he heard Falco mutter, and gave a menacing glance in his direction. Pepper just shrugged and continued. He was used to their bickering.   
"Fox, we might have a bad situation. We've had staff working around the clock down here on some information that we've put together. I guess I'll start from the beginning." 

'_That always works,_' Fox thought, not in the mood for a long talk. 

"Six months ago, an army outpost on the coast outside Corneria City began noticing some strange activity at the docks. Unscheduled boat arrivals and departures, large shipments with unusually edgy personnel, and some shooting was once heard from inside a cargo storage area. The outpost sent a soldier disguised as a dock worker to investigate, and he reported that a large cargo ship had left the dock with armed passengers aboard. The undercover soldier detained a worker and managed to get some information out of him, namely that the ship was Venom's." 

"A Special Forces team was scrambled and took over the ship hours later. They also made a disturbing discovery. The cargo holds were full of people, mostly civilians, some soldiers. The ship's destination was a spaceport on the far coast where they were to be shipped to Venom as slave labor." 

Fox furrowed his brow in thought. "To work on what? Doesn't seem normal for Venom to risk doing this in plain view of an army outpost." 

"I'm getting there. We've intercepted other such shipments, some in space, some on land, mostly on Corneria but also on MacBeth and Fortuna. We finally received some useful information a few weeks ago from paperwork found on a raid. Read this." Pepper's eyes averted as he typed on his computer. Moments later a slip of paper slid out from the front of the hologram, which Fox picked up and read.   


_Captain Rohmer,_   
__ __

_ I know that you need not be told the importance of the cargo you carry. Keep your security at the highest level at all times and neutralize anyone and anything that___

_seems the least bit suspicious. The Cornerians are beginning to catch on to our activities, but it is too late. There is nothing they can do to stop it now. With your___

_shipment and a few others, we will be at full strength and our goal will be completed on schedule._   
  
_Overlord will rise again._   
  
  
  


  
  


Fox's eyes hung on the last sentence, feeling a pit form in his stomach. Overlord, the curse that started this whole nightmare. His torture by Wolf, returning to rescue Vixy, his framing by IceStorm… even Vixy's death. All were products of that damn weapon. Seeing the name again hit Fox like a right hook to the face. 

"Fox?" 

"Huh?" Fox snapped his head up. "Sorry, brought back some memories." He handed the paper to Falco and leaned back in the chair as Pepper continued. 

"Needless to say, that note concerns us. It's not signed, which leads us to believe it's directly from the commander of the Venom Army. We don't know his name, his face, nothing, and any extremely important documents we've come across have so signature." 

"So not having a signature is kind of his signature," Falco muttered absently as he read the note. 

"Something like that. In any case, we've dispatched scouts all over the galaxy to find out anything they can about this. If they really are trying to rebuild Overlord, this is a serious issue. We've investigated the ruins of the destroyed Overlord, and there appears to be no activity there." 

"So what is it you want us to do?" Fox asked. 

"Well, you're probably the most knowledgeable person in the galaxy when it comes to Overlord. You're the only person who's seen it from the inside and knows the security systems. I want you to join the search. I want you to investigate any suspicious locations that our scouts come up with and give me what you find." 

"Well, I told you a week ago that Peppy and Slippy would be gone on vacation, and we don't know exactly where they are, so we're a little understaffed." 

Pepper looked away from Fox again, followed by another slip of paper sliding out from the receiver. "I know that, which is why I took the liberty of giving you a temporary replacement." 

"Replacement?" Falco asked, scowling. It took him long enough to function well with the team, and he didn't like working with people he didn't know. 

"Does the name Birse mean anything to you, Fox?" Pepper asked. 

Fox thought back, over a year back when Overlord was still a threat. Ike Birse, the commander of the Special Forces team that was going to accompany him inside the facility to open the doors for the fighters. Fox had gone in before them to rescue Vixy, and the plan was to meet on the roof. Just as he was climbing the ladder to meet them, the ship exploded, shot down, wiping out the entire team. 

"The team that was going to come with me into Overlord, he was the commander. Why?" 

Pepper nodded downwards. "Read the paper, it's the physical profile and psychologist's evaluation of your new partner. Don't worry, he's not crazy, every soldier has an evaluation." 

Falco scoffed as Fox picked up the paper and read.   
  
  
  


Name: Gage Birse 

Position: Captain, Dagger Strike Team, Cornerian Army Special Forces 

Species: Red Fox 

Gender: Male 

Marital Status: Single 

Home Planet: Corneria 

Age: 23 

Height: 6'0'' 

Weight: 163 Lbs 

Eyes: Hazel 

Hair: Light rust-colored fur, white muzzle/neck/inner ear 

Distinguishing Features: Scar behind left ear 

Family: Father alienated, Mother deceased, Brother deceased 

Special Achievements: Cornerian Medal of Honor, pistol and rifle marksman 

Interests/Hobbies: Marksmanship, martial arts, racing, learning to fly 

History: It is my opinion as a psychologist that Gage and his brother Ike, who was four years older than him, grew up as normal kids until their mother was killed during the first attack on Corneria during the Lylat War. They hated living with their abusive and constantly drunk father, so they ran off and joined the Cornerian Army, seeking vengeance for their mother. Both exhibited great skill and leadership qualities and quickly rose through the ranks, taking part in many battles during the war. Ike was soon given command of Dagger, an army Special Forces group, while Gage kept up his training, looking up to his brother and hoping to one day be a part of Dagger alongside him. He received his chance, though not in the way he expected, when his brother's entire unit was wiped out during the attack on Overlord five years after the war. Gage was given the responsibility of re-forming and commanding Dagger. 

Personality: According to accounts from fellow soldiers, Gage was a vigorous and courageous soldier, more than earning his place as an officer in the Cornerian Army through his efforts during the war. During a battle on MacBeth towards the end of the war, he and his platoon were captured after a vigilant attempt to hold a city from the forces of Venom. He organized and executed a successful escape, freeing his comrades, who even now thank him for saving their lives, and earning the Cornerian Medal of Honor. This harsh and unimaginably painful experience in the Venom prison made him slightly detached, often seen brooding or just staring into space, a common trait in post-torture victims. This experience also, however, made him more determined then ever to bringing Venom down.   
Gage also has a deep resentment for Fox McCloud. He blames McCloud for his brother's death, claiming that his brother's unit would not have had to wait for him above Overlord for so long if he had not gone in ahead to rescue Vicenzia Hohleran.   


Fox shook his head and laughed as he finished reading. "General, did you actually _try_ to find the worst possible person for me to work with? He hates me, it'll never work." 

"Lemme see," Falco said, reaching for the paper. He scanned over it and laughed, seeing what Fox was talking about. "I'm on Fox's side with this one." 

Pepper gave them an annoyed look, his drooping eyes falling further. "Don't you think I thought of that? Listen, if you're the most knowledgeable on Overlord, then Gage is the second most knowledgeable. After the incident, he researched extensively into Overlord, going over blueprints, talking to the pilots, digging in our security files. Guess he felt he owed it to his brother or something. In any case, you're both professionals and I'm not going to let a personal squabble endanger the galaxy. If Overlord is really being built again, we need all the strength we can get. Now do you want the job or not?" 

Fox recognized Pepper's annoyed tone and backed off. He was right; it would be stupid to let a personal issue endanger lives. He was also right about Fox being the only person alive who had ever seen inside Overlord and its securities. And he had been thinking about accepting a big job… 

Fox looked over at Falco, who shrugged and said, "Your call. Was getting boring around here anyway without Slippy to beat up." Fox grinned and looked back at Pepper. 

"Ok, we'll take it. When do I meet this guy?" 

"Tomorrow morning, come down to my office. We can discuss payment there too." 

Fox sighed, hoping he would get some sleep that night. Meeting the brother of someone who blamed him for a family death would be quite an experience. "I'll bring some flowers. See you tomorrow, General." 

Pepper rolled his eyes and his face disappeared from above the receiver. The light clicking and beeping of the countless consoles and instruments in the room echoed in Fox's ears as he contemplated what had been discussed. Maybe it was all for nothing, maybe there was no new Overlord. 

'_Or maybe I'm getting myself into an even deeper pile of shit. Do I really want to get involved in Overlord again?_' 

Fox shook his head hard, trying not to think about what Overlord had already done to him. Maybe this was an opportunity to set some things right. 

"Come on," Fox said, walking towards the door. "Let's do some shooting."   


[Chapter 2 coming soon]   



	3. Gage Birse

CHAPTER 2   
Gage Birse   
_The next morning_   
_Cornerian Army Headquarters_   
_1142 hours_   
  
  


Fox leaned back in the chair in front of Pepper's desk and rubbed his eyes. The long meeting was taking its toll and he was glad he had slept the whole night for a change. "Alright, one more time," he said, hoping that it actually would be the last time. "Our job is simply to investigate any locations given to us by scouts and relay the information to you. Birse will live on the Great Fox until this whole thing is taken care of. Payment is fifty-thousand up front and an additional ten for each site we look at." His eyes snapped open. "Birse doesn't get a cut, does he?"   
Pepper looked confused then laughed. "Of course not, he still gets paid by the military. This is just considered a transfer."   
"Good," Fox mumbled. He was getting more irritable from the uncertainty of working with someone who openly hated him, but over fifty-thousand was too good an opportunity to pass up for something that might turn out to be nothing. "So can I meet him and get it over with?"   
Pepper looked at the clock on his wall and stood. "Sure. The army officers and Special Forces guys have a separate cafeteria, closer to their wing of the base. And of course, somehow my office ended up all the way over here." He scoffed and led the way into the hall, his two guards following a few steps behind. "He'll probably be there, his team always eats together. They do everything together."   
Fox walked silently next to him, fiddling with the crease of his rolled-up sleeves and thinking of what to say to Birse. He decided it would probably be best to wait for him to say the first word and to go from there. If there was one thing Fox had learned from experience, it was how to talk to people who didn't think too highly of him. Even Vixy had hated mercenaries the first time they met, and they ended up being engaged.   
The bright metallic corridor finally ended at a swinging door marked "Cafeteria B, security clearance required for service". Pepper pushed it open and stepped through, Fox hesitantly following. He heard a voice shout out, "General on deck!" and the thirty or so soldiers in the room snapped to attention.   
"At ease," Pepper said, and the soldiers relaxed back into their seats at the long tables lining the room. He was looking around for Birse when a string of static emitted from one of the guards' headsets. The guard looked down for a second, listening intently, then said, "Sir, General Penick needs to see you immediately, he says it's urgent."   
Pepper sighed and turned to Fox. "I'll be back in a minute, just stay here. They're a little rough around the edges, so don't get provoked into anything."   
"What?! Wait, you can't leave me here alone!"   
Pepper rolled his eyes. "Fox, they're not going to kill you. Just stay there, don't even talk to anyone until I get back. Most of them know Birse, and most of them only know his side of the story." He turned and left the cafeteria.   
"Wait!" Fox said in a loud whisper, but the general was already gone. He slowly turned around and faced the small cafeteria, only big enough for six long tables and a food line. It was much cleaner and homely than a normal cafeteria though, Fox noticed as he leaned on the wall, trying not to make eye contact as he looked around.   
One of the tables had six soldiers in army fatigues with identical patches on their breast pockets. Fox had seen the patch before, over a year ago, Dagger's insignia. He nervously scanned the soldiers at the table and let out his breath in relief when none of them turned out to be a red fox. At least the meeting would hold off until the general came back.   
Just as Fox thought this, a young looking raccoon at the table looked up and saw him. He looked at Fox suspiciously and called out, "Hey, cap! Look who it is!"   
Confused, Fox looked around the room and saw two more soldiers with the patch, dumping their trays at the garbage disposal, a gray wolf and a red fox. They both turned, and Fox could see captain's ranks on the fox's collar and the nametape above his left breast pocket, "Birse". The wolf had lieutenant's ranks and the nametape "Forte".   
"Oh, shit," Fox muttered as they both glared at him. He glanced around and noticed that conversation in the room had stopped and just about everybody was looking back and forth between Fox and Gage, like a tennis match. The Dagger soldiers slowly stood up, keeping their eyes on Fox as if he was going to pull out a gun at any time and start shooting.   
Gage definitely had resemblance to his brother, from what Fox could remember. He stood up straight, arms folded, glaring at Fox as if daring him to make the first move. The tenseness hung in the air as Fox thought about what to do, his heart racing. No matter how good Fox was, he knew there was no way he could take on more than one Special Forces soldier in a fight. The other soldiers occupying the table watched on eagerly, like the best part of the movie was coming up.   
After another minute of the tense stare-down, Fox decided that Gage wasn't going to make the first move, so he better do something. Slowly he walked forward, as if not wanting to wake a sleeping monster, and stopped two feet from Birse and his team. His mouth felt like sandpaper, so he worked up some wetness and managed to say in a near whisper, "Captain Birse?"   
Fox didn't expect a response, and he didn't receive one except the piercing glare, so he continued. "I'm, uh…well, you obviously know who I am…listen…"   
Fox didn't even see the fist coming. He felt an explosion of pain on the left side of his muzzle and the next thing he knew he was on his hands and knees almost kissing the floor, shocked gasps echoing around the cafeteria. His mouth throbbed and his head was spinning as he heard Birse speak.   
"No, _you_ listen, McCloud. I've been waiting to do that for a long time. I know about my little assignment to work with you, but let's get one thing straight. I don't want to do this, and I bet you don't either, but orders are orders. So we just stay out of each others' way until it's over. I'm not giving you the opportunity to get me killed over some whore, like you did to my brother."   
The pain in Fox's head was forgotten as it was replaced with a surge of anger. He whipped his foot around, kicking Birse's legs out from under him. The room was again filled with shocked gasps as Fox kneeled over the prone captain, grabbing his lapels and shrugging off his teammates.   
"Now you listen to me," Fox growled at him, his comrades backing off. "That 'whore' died in my arms of a laser wound an hour after I proposed to her. Her blood was all over me while I held her, helpless to do anything. Hate me all you want, but the next time you say anything against her, I won't be this nice."   
"Now, I'm sorry about your brother, I know what it's like to lose a family member. But there was nothing I could do about it. How was I supposed to know? You think I planned for it to happen like that? These things just happen, so let it go. Nothing you can do about it now." Fox couldn't think of anything to say, so the cafeteria hung in dead silence for a few moments.   
"Get the fuck off me," Gage said, his expression changing from shocked back to the cold glare. Fox returned the glare for a few seconds then released his grip. As his anger faded, he noticed that everyone else in the cafeteria was standing at attention and he heard someone loudly clear his throat.   
The two foxes stood up and faced General Pepper, Birse snapping to attention and Fox looking down at the floor like a child that got caught stealing candy. Pepper slowly began sauntering across the cafeteria as if he had all the time in the galaxy. Everyone was completely still as he finished his jaunt and stood in front of Fox and Gage. He stared for a few seconds at the captain, who looked straight ahead, then at Fox, who was trying to avoid his eyes.   
Pepper took a napkin off a nearby table and held it up. Fox was confused for a second until he realized his muzzle was bleeding, so he took the napkin and dabbed at the cut.   
"Come with me," Pepper said sternly, turning to face the door. Fox and Gage followed, and as soon as the door closed behind them, Pepper let them have it.   
"What the hell was that?!" he shouted, turning to face Gage. "I knew there would be a little hostility, but a fist fight in front of half the officers in this base?! They just saw the vanguard of our operation against Overlord at each other's throats! I expected better conduct from you, Captain Birse. We'll discuss this more later, and I don't want any more physical incidents with you two, is that clear?"   
"Yes sir."   
Pepper shifted his eyes to Fox. "And I told you to wait until I got back to do anything."   
"General, they were staring at me, I had to say something. I tried to be nice, but this crazy asshole snapped on me."   
"_I'm_ crazy?" Gage cut in, facing Fox. "You're the one who snapped after I was done talking!"   
Fox didn't back down. "You called my dead fiancé a whore, what the hell did you expect?!"   
Gage didn't answer immediately. There was silence as Fox and Pepper, who was about to step in and stop the argument, waited for an answer. Gage's hard expression began to soften slightly as he searched for an answer. Finally he managed, "I didn't know."   
Fox cocked an eyebrow. "What?"   
"I didn't know she was your fiancé, and I didn't know she died like that."   
An awkward silence ensued as the two foxes stared at each other. Soldiers and workers passed them in the hall, glancing over curiously at the duo.   
"But that doesn't mean I like you any better," Gage added. "Hangar, fifteen minutes." He then turned and stormed off down the hall, the other workers stepping quickly out of his way.   
Fox shook his head. "Who needs enemies when you have allies like that?"   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


_Cornerian orbit_   
_1413 hours_   
  
  


Not a word had been exchanged during the long flight back to the Great Fox in StarFox's two-seater leisure ship. Fox would glance behind him every once in a while and find Gage staring out the canopy with a distant look in his eyes. He was somewhat thankful for the silence; at least it couldn't start another fight. But as the silhouette of the Great Fox appeared in the distance, Fox felt the need to try conversation again. He had initially met Falco under similar circumstances, and look how they turned out.   
"So…" he started, grasping for any topic that would do. "Pepper tells me you know a lot about Overlord."   
There was silence for a few seconds, then Gage replied in an even voice, "I guess you could say that. Not just about Overlord, about you too."   
Fox didn't quite know how to take that. "Me? How so?"   
"People always used to compare me with you. They said that I was on the ground what you are in the air, 'the Fox McCloud of ground combat', as they put it." There was a brief silence, as if Gage expected Fox to pull a one-liner or something, then he continued. "We've actually met before, McCloud, a few times. I watched like everyone else the day Corneria City was attacked as you fought in the sky. I was fascinated, and, believe it or not, you were kind of my inspiration to join the army. I figured I could avenge my mother by doing what you were doing."   
Fox nodded, again not sure how to respond. This was more of a response than he had first expected and he didn't know where it was going.   
"Of course, that all ended over a year ago. After my brother's death, I did all the research I could on Overlord and on you. I know your whole history. The next time we met was a few months after Overlord, just outside Pepper's office at the base. Of course, you wouldn't remember me, you were too engaged with your little outburst at Pepper. You wouldn't believe how much self control it took not to shoot you right there."   
"Wait, when?" Fox asked, a little taken back by part about shooting him. He then remembered, Gage must've been talking about his standoff with Pepper when he had infiltrated the base during his framing. Gage was one of the soldiers. "Oh, ok, I see. So you were there? Well, thanks for holding off on shooting me."   
Gage gave him a mean glance then continued in a somewhat annoyed tone. "To make it worse, it happened again days later, when you attacked that IceStorm-controlled hotel. I was thinking I'd finally get my chance, but there you were, standing over Stefan with that recorder, innocence proven. Of course, I was disappointed as hell."   
So Gage had also been with the team that came in behind Fox at the Corneria Grand hotel. Twice, Fox's worst enemy on the allied side had a gun pointed at him. The whole conversation made him uneasy. "We're on the same side, Birse."   
"Calm down, I'm not going to kill you. Just don't expect us to be best friends."   
"Good enough," Fox replied. There was something that had been nagging him since his fight with Birse, something he had wanted to say, and it finally came to him as they neared the Great Fox's hangar. "You know, they're right to compare us. We both lost everything to Venom. But the difference is that I actually blame Venom. I don't blame Peppy for my father's death just because he was there and didn't get killed also. He didn't kill my father, Andross did… and I didn't kill your brother, a Venom pilot did."   
Fox braced himself for an outburst or comeback, but the humming of the engine was the only sound heard. He glanced back quickly and saw Gage staring out into space again. Maybe he had finally broken through.   
  
  
Five minutes later, the ship touched down in the hangar. Gage hopped out after Fox and scanned the length of the hangar, as if analyzing it, then picked up his bags. Still trying to salvage some form of camaraderie, Fox made a move to help, but was waved away.   
"Few ground rules for the Great Fox," Fox said, leading his guest through the corridor towards the rec room. "First of all, consider this your home until the mission is over. Feel free to use any facilities, the target range and all that, and help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Make a mess, clean it, you break it, you bought it. Ok?"   
"Fair enough," Gage replied in a neutral tone.   
The door to the rec room slid open, revealing Falco leaning on a couch, apparently waiting for them. He gave his trademark untrusting look at Gage, which made Fox grin slightly, then walked over. Gage was giving the same analytical scan to the rec room that he gave to the hangar. His gaze stopped on Falco and he returned the untrusting stare.   
Fox cleared his throat. "Gage Birse, this is---"   
"Falco Lombardi, I know," he cut in, eyes still locked on Falco's. Neither made a move to offer a handshake or any other form of civilized greeting, which was pretty much what Fox had expected. He was pretty sure that they would stand there until one dropped dead from hunger unless he stepped in, which was what he did.   
"Peppy and Slippy are on vacation for another week or two, so you might meet them if this drags out that long. Come on, I'll show you to your room."   
He made a move towards the door and Gage finally tore his stare away and followed him. When the door slid shut behind them, Fox said, "He's not the most trusting guy in the galaxy, but he's great when you get him on your good side."   
After a twenty second trip down the corridor, Fox stopped and held is hand out in front of the guest room. Gage slowly walked in and looked around the room, which was identical to the other rooms in the living quarters.   
Fox absently rubbed his aching muzzle and said, "Make yourself at home, then come to the rec room when your ready and we'll see what we're supposed to do next. Any questions?"   
"No."   
He turned to leave when he heard Gage's voice again. "McCloud."   
Fox stopped and glanced over his shoulder to see Gage's back to him as he unpacked his bag. After a few seconds, he said in a low voice, "Sorry I hit you."   
Fox stared at his back for a few moments, wondering if he had heard right. He had used that speech he had given in the ship before. It always made perfect sense to him, but Gage didn't seem like a guy who listened to reason. Maybe he was. Maybe it would all work out after all.   
"Forget about it."   



	4. Return to Emayn

[Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who are reading and following the series. If anyone has any suggestions or anything like that, I gladly take them into consideration, so post it in a review. Thanks again and enjoy! --Foxmerc]   
  
  


CHAPTER 3   
Return to Emayn   
_The next morning_   
_Great Fox, recreation room_   
_0756 hours_   
  
  
  


"What the hell are you doing up already?"   
Fox groggily shambled into the rec room, shielding his sleepy eyes from the bright light and slinging his jacket over his shoulder. Gage, seated at the table, glanced up from his mug of coffee and shrugged disinterestedly. He wore army-issue combat boots and camouflage pants topped off by a plain black t-shirt. "Force of habit, I guess. I've been up for an hour already."   
"Doing what?"   
"Getting to know the ship."   
Fox nodded and moved towards the coffee maker to get himself a mug. Gage's tone was still on the unfriendly side, but it was a step up from the malice he had received the previous day. For the few seconds that Gage had looked at him, Fox could see that it was not like the usual look of hate. It was more like the distrusting stare he and Falco had exchanged the day before.   
After he had poured himself some of the steaming wake-up call, Fox took a seat on the opposite end of the table and sipped a bit. "It takes me a while to get functioning completely in the morning, and Falco's lazy ass won't be up for another hour at least."   
Gage nodded slowly, like he couldn't care less, then said, "He seemed real friendly yesterday."   
Fox chuckled and took another sip. "It's funny, our fight yesterday reminded me of how he and I met. It was back in the Academy, just after an examination flight run. The results were displayed on this big screen that everyone crowded around, and I got the top score. I didn't know who he was then, but Falco got second place by a really thin margin. So, of course, he was pissed as hell at me."   
"There's one thing we have in common," Gage muttered under his breath.   
"What?"   
"Nothing."   
Fox took another sip from his mug and continued. "Anyway, I was walking back to my room with Bill, a friend, and suddenly I hear this voice from behind me shout out, 'Hey, McCloud!' I turned around and there he was, glaring at me with a few punks he always hung around with. A few people stopped and a small crowd started forming around us. He said something like 'Let's see who's really the best right now', and Bill told me who he was and that I should just ignore him. So I turn and start walking, but a few seconds later he grabs my shoulder, spins me around, and slams me in the face."   
"It was the first time I had really been hit, and it took me a second to recover. I stood up and saw the huge crowd that had formed, all of them staring at me, seeing what I would do. Falco was still standing there, smirking at me, so I said, 'Back off, I don't want to fight you,' and he said 'I don't care if you want it or not,' and came at me again. Well, I paid attention at my martial arts classes, and it paid off. I blocked his blow and countered with a punch that put him on his back. After a bit, the crowd started breaking up and Falco was just lying there, obviously embarrassed, so I went over and offered my hand to help him up. Then we started talking and the rest is history."   
"And I would've laid him on his ass again if we kept at it,"   
The two foxes turned to see Falco leaning on the doorframe, looking more asleep than awake. Without so much as a glance at Birse, he got his own serving of coffee and plopped down next to Fox.   
"I don't think so," his friend replied with a grin. "What are you doing up anyway?"   
Falco managed a puzzled look through his sleepiness. "What… oh, shit, I forgot to tell you. Pepper called last night while you were tucking in our buddy over there. He said he needed to talk to us around eight-thirty."   
Fox shook his head. Falco was always forgetting to tell him things, and one day it was going to catch up with him. He looked at his watch and said, "Well, we still have ten minutes, but we're all here."   
As Fox stood up to call Pepper on the viewscreen, he noticed that Gage was still staring down at the cold remnants of his coffee, as if he hadn't heard a thing. 'I know these special forces types, though,' Fox thought as he punched in Pepper's office number. 'Sleep with their eyes open and a gun under their pillow, memorize a conversation they barely heard and say it a week later, can kill someone a billion different ways with a toothpick…'   
His thoughts were interrupted as Pepper's old, creased face appeared on the screen. Gage was ready and stood with a salute, which Pepper returned. "Good to see no one's dead yet. How are thing's going?"   
Fox glanced over at Gage as he sat and resumed his vigil over the coffee. "Fine so far. Falco said you needed to see us?"   
"Yes." Pepper squirmed a bit in his seat and cleared his throat. "We got our first lead. Well, it's not really a lead, it's definitely Venom activity. We probably should've seen it coming from our last situation with Overlord." He stopped and looked at Fox for a few seconds.   
"Well? What is it?"   
Pepper sighed and said, "First of all, promise me you'll stay right there and hear me out. We have a squad mobilizing as we speak to head out there and help. They should be at Zoness in six hours, at the most."   
"Zoness?" Falco asked. "What---"   
"Emayn," Fox said, a pit forming in his stomach. "It's Emayn, isn't it?"   
"Yes, but listen---"   
It was too late. Before Pepper could finish, Fox was out the door. The general sighed and shook his head. "Captain Birse, your mission is to hold off the Venom forces en route to Emayn until reinforcements arrive and find any information regarding Overlord. And keep an eye on Fox, you know his history with Emayn. Don't let him do anything reckless."   
Gage sighed and downed the rest of the coffee. "Knew I should've joined the Navy."   
  


* * *   
  
  


_Great Fox, bridge_   
_1124 hours, 1624 Emayn local time_   
  
  
  


The small green and brown island of Emayn appeared on the far below against the bright sun, which was beginning its slow descent into the horizon. Fox McCloud gazed at the island, where it had all begun over a year ago. What began as a usual job from Pepper sparked a time in his life that was the most painful, and yet the most beautiful. His struggles on the island itself lead to his captivity and torture at the hands of Wolf O'Donnell. After his miraculous escape, the Cornerian government asked him to go back.   
Despite these situations, there was still that one source of energy that had made Fox risk impossible odds to rescue the ten hostages in Emayn. That same source lifted his spirits in the dark, blood-soaked cells and halls of Overlord's prison, giving him the energy to escape. It appeared again shortly after, giving him the courage to face his worst nightmares and return to Overlord alone. It was always there to comfort him and tell him that everything would be alright.   
That source was Vixy Hohleran.   
_'Vixy Hohleran... not Vixy McCloud… so close.'_   
New sorrow rose in Fox's chest as he continued staring at the island. He felt an obligation to that bit of land and its inhabitants, a responsibility. Emayn was Vixy's home, and no goddamn Venom soldier was going to desecrate it with his presence.   
Fox faintly heard the door to the bridge slide open and footsteps as someone walked in and stopped. "So what now?" Gage asked.   
"We're almost in contact range," Fox replied, tearing his eyes from the island and turning around. "We contact the governor and see--- whoa."   
Fox stopped short as he saw Gage's outfit. The standard Special Forces black jumpsuit (with the Cornerian flag on the right sleeve), boots, and gloves complete with two empty thigh holsters, body armor, elbow and knee pads, and a knife on his left calf. "Someone came prepared."   
Gage shrugged in his usual 'whatever' way and said, "I know you have guns, but I wanted to bring my own gear."   
"Whatever floats your boat," Fox said, turning back to the nearing island. He had too many things going on in his head to worry about Birse's attitude, and it was starting to get annoying. After a few seconds, he heard the footsteps continue and Gage stood next to him, arms folded, looking at the oblong land.   
"Looks like we're a little late, they've already been invaded. Look."   
Fox followed Gage's pointing finger to the left side of the island. Black shapes materialized from the clouds, at least three visible ones. Smaller shapes shot forth from their larger counterparts, heading down onto the island.   
"Dropships," Fox said. "They're attacking almost the exact same way they did last time, from the left side. Hope the militia learned from it."   
"Emayn is now in contact range," ROB's monotonous voice said from across the bridge.   
"Good," Fox replied, turning to face the hologram comm. "ROB, call the governor's house."   
Fox felt the strongest déjà vu of his life as the comm. beeped, trying to connect. After a few seconds, a white canine face, early thirties at the most, flickered into sight above the projector…a familiar face.   
"Yes, this is Governor Ecklin," the beagle said in a hurried voice. He was surprisingly well composed considering what was happening. "Who is this?"   
"Ecklin?" Fox replied, eyes wide. "Jay Ecklin?"   
The memories all came back to him from his last visit to Emayn, when he and Wolf first saw each other during Wolf's speech. The confrontation, Wolf's abduction of the ten civilians. When Fox went after the hostages and busted up the execution, he put the most calm-looking person in charge of his fellow civilians, a person who would later visit him in the hospital with his family and thank him personally…Jay Ecklin."   
Jay's eyes widened also. "Fox! Oh God, it's been so long. How are you?"   
"I should be asking you. We got here as soon as we heard, but it looks like they've started. What's going on?"   
"Yeah, we can catch up later. So far, we're doing alright. They seem to be hitting us with a similar size invasion force as last time, but they underestimated us. Since the last invasion, we've built a more serious militia. But I don't know if it'll hold."   
Fox nodded. "Ok, we can do some strafing runs from the Arwings to soften them up a bit, then—"   
"No good," Jay cut in, shaking his head. "It looks like they also learned from last time. Almost every rooftop on the west side of the island has an anti-aircraft weapon on it. A fly couldn't get through."   
"Shit," Fox muttered. "The west side? Construction finally got done?"   
"Yeah, after we cleaned up the new square from the last battle when you saved me and the others, we continued construction and finished a couple months ago. The town's really grown since you were last here. Two squares now."   
Fox sighed and shook his head. This was going to be harder than he thought. Even if they did somehow get onto the island, they had a larger area to cover, and with less of a force. "Alright, we'll find a way in, don't worry. We'll try and land near the west side so we can attack from the back, sandwich them in. Tell the militia to look out for two red foxes."   
"Two? Who's the other?"   
Fox hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Gage. "Him. Long story, I'll tell you later."   
"Ok. Thank you so much Fox."   
"Thank me after we win. Oh, and we'll be listening in to the militia's radio chatter so we know where to go to help. Does this new square have a name?"   
"Yeah," Jay replied, a weary grin creeping onto his muzzle. "McCloud Square."   
  


* * *   
  
  
  


_Minutes later_   
_Great Fox, armory_   
  
  
  


A soft blue glow filled the armory as Fox searched the viewscreen's records for a certain map sent to them over a year ago. Falco leaned back in one of the chairs while Gage propped one foot up on another one and unsheathed his knife, running his gloved fingers slowly over the blade. His tail slowly swung from side to side, like a metronome keeping time.   
"Alright, here it is," Fox said as the glowing map of Emayn occupied the screen. "It's a little out of date. This whole area over here on the west side isn't under construction anymore, so pretend that there's a bunch of buildings there."   
Falco chuckled sarcastically. "And McCloud square, right?"   
Fox rolled his eyes and continued. "Anyway, according to Jay, we can't go in by air, so here's what I was thinking. Falco, you take to the air and shake up the ships. Three carriers and a bunch of dropships. Take out as many dropships as you can and keep the big boys busy. Think you can handle that?"   
Falco scoffed and rolled his eyes, which was all the response Fox needed.   
"Gage, you and I land here," Fox tapped the shoreline on the far western side of the island. "And attack them from behind. That work for you?"   
Gage's eyes widened and he stood straight up, the knife gleaming in the blue glow. "No, no way! There's no way in hell I'm going down there with you."   
Fox sighed. He was afraid he would get a response like that. "Gage, we—"   
"McCloud," Birse cut in. "Even if I did trust you in the least, which I don't, you would only slow me down. You're a pilot, stick to the damn air. You do what you're good at and I'll do what I'm good at, ok?"   
"Hey," Falco said, sitting up and half-turning to Gage. "Maybe it slipped your attention, but the invasion is happening on land. I can handle a few dropships, but I don't know what kind of one-man army you think you are."   
Gage slit his eyes and opened his mouth to retort when Fox cut in. "You claim to know everything about me, Birse. So you have to know that I liberated this island once already and single-handedly rescued ten civilians in the middle of enemy territory. Not to mention that I escaped, infiltrated, then re-escaped Overlord all by helpless little self. Hey, I can go into the ground fights with IceStorm if you want, or did I make my point clear enough?" It was a rhetorical question, so he continued. "I may not be Special Forces, but you know damn well I'm qualified for ground combat. Emayn means a lot to me, so put aside our little quarrel for now and work with me, ok?"   
Falco smirked and leaned back in his seat as Gage put his foot back on the chair and settled down. After a few moments with a look that expressed more annoyance than anger, he said, "Fine, just don't get in my way. Have you even thought about the little detail of actually getting on the island?"   
"Well, if we can't go in from above, we'll go in from below. The Bluemarine."   
"The what?" Gage asked with a confused look.   
"The Bluemarine, our submarine craft. It's made for one, but two can fit in if they get chummy. They won't be expecting that, so we might be able to get on the island unnoticed."   
Gage seemed satisfied with that and went back to his knife.   
"Alright then," Fox said, flicking the screen off. "Let's go."   
Falco left for the hangar while Gage began a slow round of the armory, looking at each rack of weapons closely, as if looking for one in particular. His eyes stopped on one and he muttered, "I'll be damned."   
"What?" Fox asked as he took off his jacket and strapped body armor over his black shirt.   
"The SLX-109 assault rifle. These things just came out a month ago, I've been using it a lot."   
Fox nodded, securing the final strap. "Spent some time in the range with it, great gun. Help yourself to anything in here."   
Gage grabbed one of the rifles off the rack and took it apart on a nearby bench before Fox could even say anything. He checked over each part and put it back together with the sureness of someone who's done it hundreds of times. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he moved down the rack and repeated the process with two pistols, which he placed in either thigh holster.   
The whole show took no more than two minutes, and Gage looked at Fox expectantly. "What are you waiting for?"   
"Uh…nothing." Fox was amazed at the speed in which Gage took apart and repaired the guns, and he realized he was staring. Feeling like a kid who had just been outdone in the school talent show, Fox prepared his own pistol and grabbed the same model rifle.   
"Uh, McCloud?" Gage said as Fox headed out the door. "Unless you want a really fancy club, that rifle's not much use without ammo."   
Fox stopped and mentally kicked himself. The comment Gage made about slowing him down had made him a little angry. He was trying too hard to look good, even somewhat competent, in front of him.   
_'He's a frickin' specops captain,'_ Fox told himself as he backtracked into the armory. _'Stop comparing yourself to him. He may be able to kick your ass on the ground, but he can barely pilot.'_   
With that established, Fox grabbed a few energy mags from the bin and shoved them in his pockets. Gage may have fancier clothes and better aim with a gun, but Fox knew that he would fight just as hard on the ground. What was that old quote he always heard at the Academy?   
_'It's not the size of the man in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the man.'_   
"Damn straight," Fox muttered under his breath as he turned to give leaving another shot.   
"What?"   
"Nothing. Let's go."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


_Off the west coast of Emayn_   
_1736 hours, Emayn local time_   
  
  
  


"Seventy-five knots," Fox said, glancing at the display panel in the Bluemarine's cockpit. The craft vibrated harder as the digital counter continued steadily upwards past '75', pushing the maximum speed to its limits. It hadn't been used in a while, and Fox prayed it would hold together until they reached the shore.   
Gage, who was crammed behind the pilot's chair with their gear, had a bit more pessimistic view. "This hunk of crap's not going to make it."   
"She'll hold," Fox shouted back over the creaks and groans of the ship's hull, hoping he was right. "It's really not supposed to be going this fast for so long, but we're in a hurry."   
Gage sighed and nearly fell over as a hard rumble shook the ship. "How much further 'till shore?"   
Fox looked at the laser distance-finder, surprised to find that they were already almost there. "Another mile or so, thirty or forty seconds. How do you want to work this? Pop the hatch and swim?"   
"We could, but we'd be exposed for a long time, not to mention the gear would get wet."   
Fox thought for a few seconds, watching the distance-finder rapidly count down. Finally, he decided that there was really one option. "Hang onto something!"   
"What?" Gage called back. He saw that Fox wasn't slowing down at all as the counter dropped below one-thousand feet. "Are you crazy?!"   
"She'll hold!" Fox shouted, less sure of himself this time. Gage grabbed hold of the hatch handle as Fox inclined the ship slightly upwards, poking slightly over the waterline. Through the canopy he could see the three large ships high above…and one island approaching very quickly.   
The craft violently jolted and rumbled as it hit the beach, an earsplitting groan of bending metal filling the air. The Bluemarine slid and spun over the sand, tossing its occupants around the cockpit like socks in a washing machine. After a few more seconds of creaking and sliding, the ship halted on its side, dead silence returning to the beach.   
Gage groaned and sat up, rubbing his head from where it hit the side of the ship as it did its acrobatics act. He looked around and saw that Fox already had the hatch opened and was looking outside.   
"Fun, eh?" he said, ducking back into the cockpit. "Wanna go again?"   
"Fun for you," Gage mumbled, gathering their gear and passing it to Fox. "You had a seatbelt."   
Fox grinned and shoved the weapons and pouches out onto the sand, then followed. With a sigh, Gage hopped out after him, greeted by a burst of warm tropical air. Without more than a moment's hesitation, he grabbed one of the rifles from the sand and carefully scanned the border of the long line of trees further up the beach.   
Satisfied that they were alone, he turned back to Fox, who was looking over his handiwork. A long groove lay behind the ship, at least a hundred yards from the ocean. Fox folded his arms and looked at the craft itself.   
"Well, she held together…" A chunk of the hull broke away and clattered to the sand as he finished his sentence. "…sort of. Slippy's gonna be pissed."   
"Hey," Gage hissed. "We need to get off the beach, a patrol could come by to see what happened."   
Fox nodded, grabbing his rifle and ammo and following Gage towards the trees. "Don't forget, we're parked in the west beach."   
He thought he could see a grin pull slightly at the corners of Gage's muzzle as he slipped into the shadows of the dense trees, then it was down to business. The captain moved slowly, his rifle up to his shoulder and pointed straight ahead. Fox followed in the same manner, his humor turning to anxiousness. He knew of the dangers they were about to face. Luck had been a hundred percent on his side last time he was here, and he hoped those odds were still with him.   
As the trees began to thin out, faint gunfire and shouting could be heard. The backs of the buildings surrounding the west square came into view through the trees, only fifty or so yards from the tree line. The only thing between them and the town was a pair of feline Venom soldiers, their backs to the trees.   
Fox raised his rifle to fire, but Gage put his hand up in a 'stop' gesture and shook his head. He lowered his rifle as Birse slung his over his back and quietly unsheathed his knife. He looked at Fox and gave a series of hand signals: two fingers pointed at his eyes, then pointing at the soldiers, then a fist in a downwards motion. Fox wasn't too familiar with hand signals, but he figured it meant, "Cover me, and if they see me, drop them before they drop me."   
Gage moved forward, hunched over in a nearly full crouch, taking each step as if navigating a mine field, so silent that even Fox could barely hear him. The soldiers continued chatting, neither aware of the shadow that was creeping up just behind the one on the right. With swiftness, even grace, Gage grabbed the right guard in a choke hold and swung the knife in a short arc at the left. He went down with a string of choking noises, the whole front of his throat sliced open.   
The other guard struggled and gasped in Gage's firm hole. "P-Please! Don't kill me! D-D-Don't!"   
Fox jogged up them as Gage spoke in a low, rough voice. "I won't hurt you if you tell me what I need to know. How many soldiers have landed?"   
"I-I don't know. A hundred maybe."   
"What's the attack plan?"   
"Uh…" Gage pulled tighter and the feline's eyes bulged. "Ok, ok! It's nothing special, just squads moving up through each street towards the east square."   
"Thanks, you've been helpful," Gage said. Relief showed in the soldier's face, but only for a second. With one quick move, Gage jolted his arm to the left, breaking the guard's neck with a wet snap. He let the body crumple to the ground and sheathed his knife. "Told him I wouldn't hurt him. He didn't feel a thing."   
Grabbing his rifle, Gage looked back at Fox and met a surprised stare. "Hey, if you don't have the stomach for this, then wait here. I don't need you puking at every drop of blood."   
Fox's surprised look turned to anger. "Hey, I already told you, I'm fine with this. Break all the necks and slice all the throats you want. I was just surprised because…well…"   
Gage nodded as if he completely understood and stared at the corpses. "Because you're used to firing at a shape, not grabbing one and talking to him. I know the feeling, we've all had it." He crouched and started rummaging through the pockets of the soldier he had knifed. "You see that they're people too. You can see the color of their eyes, whether they're married or not from a ring on their hands, all that stuff." He finished searching the body and tossed Fox a small black object; the soldier's wallet. Fox opened it and found a few transparent slots with pictures in them. The first showed a young feline with the same color fur, presumably the soldier years earlier. The next one showed him older in a Venom Army dress uniform, two middle-aged felines standing on either side; his parents. Fox knew he would've felt remorse if it weren't for one thing in the picture; the Venom flag hanging in the background.   
"What you have to remember," Gage continued, as if reading his thoughts. "Is that they're not just any people. They're Venom soldiers, and they would kill you if they had the chance. Hell, look at what they're doing here, killing civilians. Remember who they are and what they stand for and the fact that they're people too doesn't matter."   
Fox nodded, but shuddered as he flipped to the soldier's military identification card. He was nineteen years old.   
_'Yeah,'_ he thought, tossing the wallet back onto the body. _'And Vixy was only twenty-two. I'd trade a million of these bastards for her.'_   
Gage looked at him with an expression that actually wasn't anger or annoyance for the first time since they met. "You know, it's good that you felt that. It means you still have half a heart left. You have to put it behind you now, remember what I said. They're Venom." He stood up and readied his rifle again. "Maybe you're not as much of an asshole as I thought."   
"Gee, thanks."   
"But that still doesn't mean I trust you." With that, Gage turned and jogged silently towards the town. After a minute of reflecting on what Gage had said, Fox shouldered his own rifle and followed.   
'_I've killed plenty of soldiers on the ground, and I'll rack up more today. Birse is right. They're Venom, they're the ones who kill civilians, the ones who killed my parents.' _The pit in Fox's stomach vanished at this thought, and he knew he would have no more qualms about killing anyone related to Venom.   
The sun sank lower in the horizon, setting the sky ablaze in red and orange light, providing the shadows that would hide the duo in their battle through the streets of Emayn. They reached an alley between the first two buildings they encountered, and Gage nodded to Fox. With a deep breath, Fox pointed his rifle ahead and entered the alley, Gage following.   
Not a single soldier would be allowed to enter the east square where the governor's mansion was located, where Fox had met Vixy for the first time at the front door. He would see to it... 

**_---Chapter 4 coming soon!---_**   



	5. Guardian Angel

[Author's Note: Completed chapter 5 a bit sooner than expected, so here it is! Also, I now have a message board at my site http://foxmerc.tripod.com/foxmercsfiction, so please feel free to drop by   
and post! Also, thank you for the reviews, they're very generous =) Foxmerc]   
  


CHAPTER 4   
Guardian Angel   
_Emayn, McCloud Square_   
_1803 hours_   
  
  


Gage peeked around the corner of the brown stone building, careful to stay in the shadows of the alley. McCloud Square stretched before him. It was large for a town square, at least a hundred yards long and wide, and bordered by shops and offices in the similar quaint brown stone design. The road leading into the residence area of the town was at the far end of the square and guarded by a mounted heavy machine gun and a line of soldiers. At least fifty other soldiers spotted the rest of the square, along with supply crates, trucks and one light fighter.   
He ducked back into the alley and gave Fox the report. When he was done, he added, "I wonder why they're not using the fighter. An air attack would probably be more effective than a straight ground fight."   
Fox shrugged. "That's what I'd do. There's probably a good reason for it, we'll ask Jay when we get there."   
Gage nodded as a low hum filled the air. The duo looked back into the square and saw a dropship slowly descend and open the back ramp. After ten soldiers hopped off, it closed back up and flew away over the rooftops. When it was clear, another dropship appeared high overhead and began its descent.   
Gage pushed Fox back into the alley. "Ok, time to get to work. You ready?"   
Fox nodded. _'Just like old times. Another overwhelming-odds fight in the west square. Hope this one goes as well.'_   
"Ok," Gage said, grabbing a grenade from his vest. "Just follow my lead and shoot anything that looks in our direction." He pointed to the fighter halfway across the square on their side. "When I say so, break for the ship and use the main guns."   
"No problem."   
"Just watch your fire. I'm going for the machine gun when I see the chance."   
Fox nodded again as Gage looked back into the square. The second dropship slowed as it hovered a few feet above the ground, closer to the alley as Gage had hoped for, and opened its rear door.   
One soldier was able to hope out before he saw a small black object fly through the air and into the gaping mouth of the ship. Before anyone could react, the grenade exploded, tearing off the right side of the ship and sending it crashing to the ground in a ball of flame.   
Gage shouldered his rifle, aimed for no more than two seconds, and fired a single laser that traversed the square and killed the soldier manning the machine gun at the road. The remaining soldiers looked around in frantic confusion, trying to piece together what happened. The smoke from the destroyed ship partially blocked the view of the alley.   
"Go! Now, before they get the machine gun up!"   
With a quick prayer and a deep breath, Fox sprinted from the shadows into the setting sun, Gage's rifle rattling behind him. Before long there was more rattling as soldiers saw him and fired, lasers whizzing by his head and pounding the buildings to his right. He fired off a few blind bursts towards the center of the square, hoping to get their heads down.   
After a few seconds, which seemed like hours, Fox reached the fighter and climbed the ladder to the cockpit, a few lasers pinging off the hull. He slammed the canopy shut, finally letting out his breath, and looked over the controls. He'd seen them before.   
"Today's just one big happy trip down memory lane," Fox grumbled as he powered up the engine. It was the same class fighter he had stolen in his escape from Overlord, so he already knew the controls. For a moment, he again saw the bright hangar outside the canopy, the thick smoke from the oil barrels he had shot…the blood from his shoulder wound covering the seat and control panel. Then it was gone.   
"Fox!" Gage's voice sounded in his headset. "What are you waiting for?!"   
Fox shook his head hard and worked the buttons on the control panel. The ship's landing gear retracted, and it hovered a few feet off the ground. He saw the guns were fully charged and grabbed the stick as more lasers bounced off the fighter, slowly but steadily bringing the shields down.   
The sound of the rifles was drowned out by the roar of the fighter's twin laser cannons. The red beams tore across the square, cutting down the soldiers and ripping chunks of stone from the far buildings. Fox rotated the hovering ship, shooting up the line of trucks and supplies. One of the supply crates must've contained ammo, because it went up in a large explosion when a laser hit it, taking at least four soldiers with it. The rest of the disoriented army ran for cover, firing random shots in Fox's direction.   
"Ok, I'm going, check your fire."   
"Ok," Fox replied, looking over and seeing Gage sprint across the square. Every few seconds he would drop to one knee and fire a perfectly-aimed burst at a soldier daring enough to step out of cover. When he ducked to reload, Fox loosed a volley of lasers across the square to keep them at bay.   
Gage finally reached the machine gun and kicked the gunner's corpse out of the way like it was a child's toy blocking the staircase. He swung the huge gun away from the road on its mount and fired a rapid stream of searing red destruction towards the Venom soldiers. Between him and Fox's fighter, soon the square lay in smoking desolation, dead soldiers and twisted metal strewn all over.   
Gage ceased fire and carefully scanned the square, breathing heavily. Nothing moved except the flames and billows of smoke from the ruined trucks and dropship. After a few more minutes of dead silence, he raised his hand towards the fighter in a beckoning gesture. The canopy opened with an echoing creak and Fox hopped out, taking a look around at his work.   
He walked over to Gage's position, keeping his eyes and rifle pointed towards the other end of the square the whole way. "Think we got 'em all?"   
Gage shrugged and wiped the sweat from his forehead in the tropical heat of the setting sun. "Either that or the rest ran off. We don't have time for a body count, we need to get outta here before more dropships come."   
"Shouldn't be a problem if Falco's doing his job," Fox replied, hand going to his ear. "Falco, you there?"   
"Yeah, how's it going down there?"   
"Good, but we can't hold out against more dropships. Are you on it?"   
Falco scoffed over the comm. "Come on, I'm getting bored up here. The dropships are like targets in a shooting gallery and the gunners on the big boys must be blind. Don't worry, none will get through, just hurry up before I fall asleep. Looks like they're giving up on sending more out anyway."   
"Good, I'll get back to you soon," Fox replied with a sigh of relief. He switched back to the local frequency and turned to Gage. "Looks like we're clear from the rear."   
"Good," Gage said, turning towards the road into town. "Between us and the militia, we should be able to sandwich them in. Shall we?"   
"After you," Fox replied with a grin, glad that things were going well so far. The grin was quickly wiped off his muzzle as he followed Gage a short distance down the road. Lying in the middle of the street was a trio of canine bodies, a male, a female, and a kit that looked no more than ten years old. Their corpses were riddled with blackened holes, apparently from the machine gun placement guarding the road. None were armed.   
Fox felt a pull on his arm as he stared at the wide, lifeless eyes of the female, who had a permanent look of shock on her face.   
"Fox!" Gage yelled, pulling his arm harder. Fox finally snapped out his gaze and looked at Gage. "Come on, we have work to do. We'll have time for sympathy later."   
Fox nodded and the duo continued their jog down the street. After a block of nothing but the sound of muffled gunfire and explosions in the distance, Fox's headset began to buzz and receive static-filled voices. "You hear that?" he asked Gage.   
Gage held up his hand to silence Fox and listened intently to the random voices.   
"—square! I repeat, we sighted explosions and gunfire at McCloud Square!"   
"What? That's where the enemy is based, do we have any men up that way?"   
"Negative, that's why I'm reporting it. Does anyone know--?"   
Jay's voice cut in. "I'll be damned, looks like he found a way down. Attention all soldiers of the militia! Be on the lookout for two red foxes, one of them Fox McCloud himself. It looks like they'll be working their way towards you, so check your fire. With their help, we should be able to repel these bastards."   
There were scattered whoops across the frequency at the news, which gave Fox even more optimism. The militia was far from beaten, and Venom had nowhere to fall back to. The sun finally sank below the rooftops, shrouding the streets in darkness as Fox and Gage continued down the street to end the invasion.   
  


* * *   
  
  


_Emayn, Main Street_   
_1854 hours_   
  
  


The sound of gunfire intensified and was now mixed with shouting as the two foxes moved cautiously down the right side of the dark stone street, small shops and houses lining it. A good portion of the streetlights were broken, for which Gage was thankful for. They had no idea what was up ahead, and the shadows were their only cover unless they felt like stacking up some of the bodies that littered the street…which they didn't.   
Gage put up his fist in a "stop" command as they neared a sharp right turn. He flattened his back against the corner building and peeked around the corner. After a few seconds, he ducked back and said, "Looks like we found the fight. Bunch of militia guarding the entrance to the square, using an overturned truck as cover. Not very effective."   
"How many Venom soldiers?"   
Gage peeked again and said, "Twenty, twenty-five. All with their backs to us."   
Fox nodded and shrugged. "Well, you're the specops guy, how do we do this?"   
Gunfire continued as Gage furrowed his brow in thought. He looked around the corner again and stayed out longer, thinking of possible approaches. After a minute or so, he ducked back and put his hand to his ear, trying to muffle the noise, and spoke into his comm.   
"This is Captain Gage Birse of the Cornerian Army. If anyone in the Emayn militia can hear me, acknowledge this transmission." He gave it a few seconds, then tried again. "I repeat, this is—"   
"Yes!" a deep, rough male voice sounded over the channel. "Yes, this is Harlan Donlan."   
"Say that five times fast," Fox muttered from behind Birse.   
"Mr. Donlan, I need to speak to whoever's in charge," Gage continued.   
"I would if I could, son, but a laser got to him first. I've assumed command of the militia."   
"Alright, listen to me, sir. You see the corner past the Venom soldiers?   
"Yes."   
"I'm right there, with Fox McCloud." Gage waved his arm in a wide arc around the corner.   
"Ah, you boys couldn't have come at a better time. We're in trouble here, and if they send reinforcements—"   
"There are no reinforcements, McCloud and I took care of their base and we have a man in the air guarding against dropships."   
Donlan's relieved sigh could be heard over the comm. "Then we have hope. Do you have any ideas of how to deal with these last ones?"   
"Yes, but it will be a little risky."   
"Bah, that's ok. My men are used to a little—"   
"Not for you, for us."   
There was an awkward silence from the other end, as if he was wondering whether to accept or not. A small grin formed on Gage's muzzle, as if he had seen this a million times. "Don't worry sir, I'm use to a little danger too."   
"Well, if you say so. What do you have in mind?"   
"Pretty simple. McCloud will be watching me. Whenever he gives you the word, have your men fire for about two seconds. It doesn't matter if they hit anything, I just need the noise. Ok?"   
There were a few seconds of silence from the other end, then, "I have no idea what you're up to, but ok. We'll be standing by."   
Gage beckoned Fox to the corner and they both looked around it. "You heard that, so you know what to do. As soon as I get within a foot of a soldier, give the word."   
Fox looked over the scattered soldiers, none clumped together, and his eyes widened as he saw what Gage was thinking of doing. "Whoa, are you crazy? If you make one noise, you'll have twenty soldiers on top of you."   
"Yep," he replied, almost nonchalantly, slinging his rifle and securing it tight so it didn't make any shifting noises. "So hope I don't slip up. Same deal as before, if one turns around, drop him and I'll try to make it back here."   
"Does this mean you finally trust me?"   
Gage glanced at Fox and grinned slightly, the shadows hiding most of his expression. "Well, I don't see anyone else around here to cover my ass, so I guess I have no choice."   
Fox grinned also and replied, "I can live with that."   
"I hope I don't die with that. You ready?"   
Fox lowered himself into a prone position around the corner, rifle pointing towards the oblivious soldiers. "Ready. Good luck."   
Gage nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped out into the road. All the streetlights were on, so there were no shadows for him to duck into in case one decided to just glance over his shoulder. He slowly moved towards the rear-most soldier in the same hunched over silent walk he had done after their graceful arrival on the beach. He kept his right hand over his pistol holster, ready to pull it out in case, and his left hand slightly out, palm down, for balance.   
When he was a step away from the soldier, Fox whispered loudly into his comm., "Now!" The end of the road lit up in a deafening explosion of gunfire, giving Gage all the time he needed to grab the soldier in a choke hold, snap his neck, and let the body crumple to the ground. Some of the soldiers returned fire, but none of the militia had actually shown themselves. Fox hoped they wouldn't wise up.   
It went exactly according to plan for the next thirteen soldiers. Gage made it look effortless, child's play, but Fox knew better. The sneaking and snapping of a neck that quickly took extreme precision, not to mention the tension that came with the knowledge that a single wrong step could end your life. It was what Gage was trained for, and he did it until the fourteenth soldier. By then, however, it was already over. There were only six soldiers left, hardly enough to put up a decent fight against the militia.   
Gage approached him like the previous ones, waited for the burst of fire, and grabbed for him. But the soldier was ready. Gage had accidentally brushed against his tail, alerting him and making him spin around. He managed to yell out for help before Gage spun him back around and grabbed him in the choke hold. Birse knew the shit was about to hit the fan and didn't break the soldier's neck. Instead he grabbed his pistol and pointed it at the remaining six soldiers as they too turned around to see what their comrade was yelling about.   
"Take a look!" Gage shouted at the soldiers, but he didn't have to. The soldiers were gaping at their dead men, contemplating what it meant and how it could happen, unsure of what to do next. Gage spelled it out for them. "It's over. You have two choices. Surrender, or we have the militia and my buddy back there come out shooting."   
Some of them stole a glance back at the west end of the island, at their former base, so Gage added, "Oh, and you can forget about reinforcements, in case you were wondering. Your dropships ran into a little trouble."   
Their faces sunk a bit at this, and some of them whispered to the others. Gage's hostage squirmed in his grip; it was pretty clear which choice he wanted. "What's it gonna be?"   
A canine sergeant, highest rank in the remaining six, turned to Gage with an icy glare and hesitantly threw down his rifle. The rest followed his example in a more frightened way.   
"Good choice," Gage said. He released his shield, who fell to his knees, breathing heavily. An elderly brown badger with large, droopy eyes peeked around the front of the truck blocking the square, then walked out and over to Birse, steering clear of the disgruntled soldiers.   
"Captain Birse?" Gage recognized the voice as Donlan's. He looked over the road at the thirteen corpses and McCloud walking up towards them. "Outstanding work, I didn't hear a thing."   
"That was the point," Gage replied, holstering his pistol as Fox came up and stood next to him.   
"Mr. McCloud," Donlan said, shifting his eyes to Fox and extending his hand, which Fox shook. "It's an honor. Thank you both so much, I'm not sure how much longer we could've held."   
"Glad to help," Fox replied. "Is Jay around?"   
"The governor? He should be somewhere in the square."   
"Thanks." Fox walked past the soldiers without even a glance and disappeared into the square.   
Donlan turned back to Gage and said, "What should we do with them?"   
"Put them in your jail for now, always have a few guards watching them. When the Cornerian reinforcements get here, they'll take over."   
"Alright." Donlan wiped sweat off his forehead and shook his head wearily. "I'm so glad that's over."   
Gage looked back at the thirteen corpses and thought about the events of that evening. He and Fox had managed to cheat death, Fox for the second time, to rid the galaxy of more Venom soldiers. If it were up to him, the six remaining soldiers would be lifeless on the stone road, but they needed to interrogate them. Overlord was the priority, not his kill count. He was done for the night, and he was glad.   
"Me too."   
  


* * *   
  


_Emayn, Main Square_   
_1932 hours_   
  


Main Square was in the shape Fox had feared. As he walked past the truck, the brightly-lit square, slightly smaller than McCloud Square, sprawled in front of him. People on their backs vastly outnumbered the people on two feet, and even the standing people looked weary and half dead. Bodies lined the square, most wounded and shouting for help, and others silenced forever.   
There were some familiar faces among the crowd from the last time Fox was there, and they nodded to him or shouted their thanks. Another familiar face, that of Jay Ecklin, was coming towards him from a group of wounded people on the right side of the square. His clothes and white fur were streaked with blood, but not his. He had apparently been helping with the wounded, and it showed in his grave expression.   
Fox held out his hand, and Jay took it then embraced him. "It's so good to see you again. Thank you so much, you're like this island's…guardian angel."   
"I'm just glad we got here in time. This is terrible. Do you have any casualty count?"   
Jay pulled away and shook his head. "No, and I don't want to know right know. This was far worse than last time. They didn't even give us a chance to surrender, just an all-out attack."   
Fox nodded. "We'll find out what this is all about. What about you? How did you get governor?"   
Jay grinned wearily and said, "Funny, really. After the last invasion, when Hohleran was killed, no one had any idea who to nominate. Somehow my name came up because I was big in the militia and led the hostages back from the square after your intervention. They said we should have a governor with combat experience, and there weren't too many of us. So here I am. What about you, how have you been?"   
Fox hesitated, then said, "I've been getting along."   
"We all followed that whole ordeal when you were falsely accused. Of course, no one here believed it for a second. Was no surprise when IceStorm came up as the real terrorists. And Fox…" He put his hand on Fox's shoulder. "I'm sorry about Vixy. I know you two were close. She meant a lot to this town also."   
Fox nodded, wanting the subject to change. He felt somewhat guilty, like he had taken something from this island, robbed it, then broke it. Thankfully, Gage walked around the truck and into the square at that moment, giving Fox an excuse to turn away. He waved to the captain, who had a surprised look on his face as he walked over to them. Fox guessed he didn't expect mayhem like that either.   
"Jay, this is Captain Gage Birse of the Cornerian Army Special Forces."   
Jay extended his hand and said, "Captain, thank you very much for your help."   
Gage returned the handshake and replied with a cliché line that made Fox grin. "It's my job, sir."   
"Peppy and Slippy are away," Fox said. "So Gage was assigned to help with the investigation."   
Jay cocked an eyebrow. "What investigation?"   
Fox opened his mouth to reply, but Gage beat him to it. "We think this may have something to do with a new version of Overlord being built. When the Cornerian reinforcements arrive, they'll take a look at things and interrogate the prisoners."   
Jay nodded, a worried expression replacing his weariness. "You really think there's another Overlord?"   
The two foxes shrugged in sync, and Fox said, "Maybe, we don't know enough yet."   
Jay nodded and looked up at the night sky with a deep breath. "Well, good luck with it. You two are welcome to stay in my house for as long as you need. Oh, and you said Slippy and Peppy were away. What about Falco?"   
Fox's eyes widened and he laughed. "Oh crap, I forgot about him, he's still up there!" He turned away from Jay and spoke for a few seconds into his comm., then turned back. "He's pissed. Oh well, nothing new."   
Jay grinned as a tall black wolf came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Jay nodded and said, "I need to go. Things are still pretty hectic around town. Fox, you know where the guest rooms are, please make yourselves at home. And thank you again."   
Jay walked off, leaving Fox and Gage in the middle of the chaotic square. Things were starting to calm down, and Falco's Arwing soon appeared overhead and descended into the middle of the square, earning an amazed stare from most people. It was a small island town, and the last time they saw a fighter was probably the last time StarFox was there.   
The stars became clear overhead as full dark descended on the island, bringing a close to the day and to the invasion. The events of the battle would never be forgotten by the survivors, but it was over for the citizens of Emayn. Fox and Gage were also glad the battle had ended, but the preservation of Emayn was only the beginning for them.   
  


**_Chapter 5 coming soon!_**   



	6. Undying History

[Author's Note: Chapter 5, where we delve further into Gage and his story, as well as what's going on Venom-side. Thanks for reading and enjoy! Foxmerc]   


CHAPTER 5   
Undying History   
_Later that night_   
_Emayn, Governor's mansion, guest quarters_   
_2348 hours_   
  
  
  


"Gage? Are you awake?"   
Fox slowly opened the old-fashioned wooden door to Gage's room, darkness and silence his only responses. The small lamp on the bedside table lent the only light in the room, enough to show a dark figure sitting on the side of the bed, looking out the window, his back to the door. Gage's dirty, sweat-soaked uniform lay sprawled on the bed, the patterns of dust, blood, and fur streaked on it a testament to the day's work.   
Silently, Fox entered the room and closed the door behind him. Gage didn't seem to notice as Fox walked around the front of the bed and looked at him, hunched over, his head in his hands. In the dim light, Fox could see his body trembling slightly, as if he was cold. His breath came out in quivering rasps.   
"Gage?" Fox tried again, a little louder.   
Gage's head snapped up and he looked at Fox for a full minute at least, as if seeing him for the first time and analyzing whether he was a threat. He had a scared look in his eyes, about the last thing Fox had ever expected to see from him.   
"God, McCloud," he said in a near whisper. "Dammit, not again…"   
He stood up and leaned on the windowsill, gazing out to the dark, calm ocean. Fox could see he was clothed only in a t-shirt and shorts, probably the same ones he has worn under his uniform. God knows how long he had been sitting there.   
"Are you ok?" Fox asked, taking another step towards him. "You were shaking and—"   
"I'm fine," Gage replied in an annoyed tone. He took a series of deep breaths and slowly shook his head. "I…I just do that sometimes."   
"Do what? What were you doing?"   
There was a hesitation from the darkness around the window, then Gage slowly said, "Remembering…Macbeth."   
Fox was confused for a few seconds until he remembered something. Gage's Army profile that was sent to him from General Pepper, the psychiatrist's evaluation at the bottom.   
_'This harsh and unimaginably painful experience in the Venom prison made him slightly detached, often seen brooding or just staring into space.'_   
Before Fox could say anything, Gage angrily turned from the window and sat back down on the bed. "Oh, why the hell am I telling you any of this? Just get out of here, leave me alone. I don't feel like reliving the past, not now, not ever."   
Fox sighed and sat on the bed next to him. He couldn't help seeing almost a mirror image of himself, his past, the demons he's had to fight. "Gage, you know my history. I'm probably the only person in the galaxy that knows exactly how you feel. We both lost loved ones to Venom, we both went through hell in a Venom prison."   
"You don't know," Gage whispered to the floor. "It's not about them; the prison on MacBeth is only half of it."   
Fox didn't know what he was talking about, but he knew this was the close to finding out. He felt sympathy for what Gage had gone through, and he wanted to help.   
"Gage, the worst thing to do is to keep it inside. It'll eat at you and you'll have these little brooding things for the rest of your life. I didn't want to talk about my parents' deaths either, but it finally got so bad that I had to tell someone. After that, I felt better…like I wasn't carrying the burden myself."   
Gage continued staring at the ground, the silence of the night accenting his deep breathing. Finally, he stood up and opened the window, allowing a rush of cool air to break the stale atmosphere of the room. He leaned on the windowsill, gazing again into the night. After a few minutes, he began speaking in a low, distant voice.   
"It was the battle for Macbeth City, right before it fell, one of the largest ground battles of the war…and my first real combat. The fighting today and seeing the square filled with dead and wounded…it must've triggered it again." He took a deep quivering breath and continued in a near-whisper. "God, I can still hear it…I can still hear the screams of pain, the shouted orders, gunfire, explosions, the rain. I can still smell the smoke, and…and burning flesh and fur. You never forget that smell. I can still see the buildings, the soldiers…the piles of dead soldiers, some of them friends that I had talked to only an hour before."   
He shifted his gaze towards the bright stars in the clear sky and continued. "I can still see it…"   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


_Six years earlier_   
_Macbeth City, Macbeth_   
_0213 hours_   
  
  
  
  


"Incoming!"   
Private Gage Birse threw himself to the ground as a rocket blew a huge chunk of rock from the building next to him, acrid smoke swirling around him. He frantically grabbed his helmet from the debris-filled street and put it back on, looking wildly around for the rest of his platoon. Through the heavy rain and smoke he saw that they were already retreating, red lasers whizzing over the street from both directions. Gage stood up on rubbery legs and followed them down the street, every prayer he had ever learned running through his head.   
That night and early morning had been a non-stop barrage of pure hell. Venom was advancing in an unstoppable wave through the streets of Macbeth City, and the scattered remnants of the Cornerian and Macbethian Army detachments had come together for a last stand. Reinforcements were promised by sunrise, but it didn't look good. They couldn't hold until then…   
Gage jumped behind a wall of rubble his platoon had retreated to and cautiously looked through the rain back down the long street, breathing heavily. The sight was breathtaking. It looked like the apocalypse had reached the planet of Macbeth. The large, majestic buildings that lined the streets were husks of their former glory, only portions of the stone and metal walls still standing. Fires and destroyed vehicles dotted the rubble-filled streets. It was impossible to distinguish the thunder from distant explosions, but the whistles of rockets were easily enough heard. And the bodies… Gage had tried his hardest to keep from vomiting, but falling and having his hand land in a fellow soldier's shot-open head had done it for him.   
Gage ducked back behind the rubble as another enfilade of lasers and rockets shook the ground. He became aware of shouting from the officers of his platoon, trying to be heard over the pounding of the rain and explosions. He could barely see any of them through the sheets of water and the gloom of the night.   
"You tell them we need that goddamn air support NOW!"   
"I already did, Sir! They say they can't spare the aircraft!"   
"What the fuck are we supposed to do?! We're getting slaughtered! We can't keep this up forever!"   
"Sir, they're coming!"   
Gage felt panic rise in his chest as he stole another glance over the rubble. At least a hundred Venom soldiers and three tanks were moving up the street, directly towards them. The young fox ducked back down, almost sobbing, wishing he were anywhere else in the universe but there.   
"Get ready!" shouted a voice Gage thought to be his squad's sergeant. "We hold them here!"   
The seventy or so soldiers left from the three-hundred they started with leaned on the rubble, their rifles pointing at the enemy column approaching them. Gage took a deep breath, his heart racing, and stood up to join his comrades. Rifle fire filled the air as lasers darted into the crowd of Venom soldiers. Gage fired also, not sure if he was hitting anything, but desperate to do something.   
The sparse volley from the Cornerians was answered with a roar from the enemy. Lasers filled the air thicker than Gage had ever seen, and explosions ripped apart the ground, the buildings, and the soldiers. Gage again hit the ground as more of his friends were cut down, dropping the Cornerian count to fifty soldiers. Blood trickled down his face and he panicked, fearing he had been hit. He felt his head and realized a laser had gone through his helmet, just grazing behind his left ear. So close…   
"Listen to me!" Gage recognized the voice of their captain, a battle-hardened leopard named Owen. "You get on that fucking radio and tell HQ that the city will fall unless we get reinforcements within the next half-hour! Do you fucking hear me?!"   
Owen, lying prone next to the radioman, grabbed him and found out that he couldn't hear him; most of the right side of his torso had been blown off in an explosion. That meant the radio was dead too.   
"Dammit!"   
A sergeant from another platoon that had joined Gage's shouted to Owen. "What the hell do we do now, sir?!"   
Owen looked up, a stony look on his dirt-streaked face. Screams echoed in the air from the men wounded from the onslaught. There was hardly anything the medic could do; he had few supplies left, and many had lost limbs. Even if there was a place to get them to, the platoon literally had its back to the wall. There was nowhere to retreat.   
Finally, he shouted back, "We need to counter-attack!"   
Dead silence ensued from the soldiers, the pounding of the rain the only sound heard. They all stared back at the captain in unbelieving terror. Gage slowly looked down at the body next to him. He couldn't even tell what species he had been, the damage completely burning his head away. He didn't want to end up like that. He was just a kid…most of these soldiers were. They should be at home, preparing and planning for their futures, looking forward to beginning their adult lives. Not here, in the middle of a dark wasteland, about to end it.   
The captain's voice broke Gage's thoughts. "Our only chance is to drive them back so we can hold out for reinforcements! You all have fought valiantly, but we need just one last effort! Prepare to charge!"   
Gage finally broke down and cried, his tears mingling with the rain. He didn't want to die here in the rain on the war-torn streets of Macbeth. The only thought running through his head was _'I'm going to die, I'm going to die.'_ Pictures soon filled his head as the remaining troops silently crept up to the wall of rubble. He saw himself and Ike when they were kits, wrestling around in the backyard. Ike always let him win, as most big brothers won't do. He saw the park a mile from his house where his mother would take them, and the huge pond there. Gage used to think it was the most peaceful and beautiful place in the galaxy.   
He would never see it again…   
Those pictures faded back to the dark, rainy, hell of Macbeth City. There was dead silence once again as the soldiers leaned forward, waiting for the word from their captain. They stared into the mouth of death, the Venom soldiers waiting for them. Knowing that he was going to be charging at that was nearly all Gage could take.   
Before he had time for anymore thoughts, the captain's voice bellowed, "Charge!"   
The air was filled with shouts and roars as the soldiers charged over the rubble and towards the enemy. Gage mustered his remaining strength and charged with them, the adrenaline he had been feeling all night again flowing through him. Lasers lanced through the air, forming a sheer wall, dropping both Cornerian and Venom soldiers alike. The war cries and roars were soon replaced with shrieks of death and pain. The ranks of soldiers grew thinner and thinner, and Gage was still alive. He heard voices over the screams and gunfire.   
"We can't make it!"   
"We have to! Keep going!"   
"The captain…the captain's down!"   
"What?!"   
"Owen's down!"   
The news shredded any morale left in the troops once and for all. The remaining few soldiers hit the ground behind any cover they could find. Gage fell behind a destroyed truck and looked around wildly, his tears still flowing. He spotted a friend of his, Wayne, a tiger he had gone through basic training with, and waved him over.   
"Wayne! Over here! Get down!"   
Wayne saw him and sprinted over. He was almost behind the car when…   
"Gage—" he began, but was cut short. A laser flew from the Venom side and blew the left side of his head off, splattering blood and brain matter on the ground and on Gage. The fox stared wide-eyed at the near-headless body of his friend for a long time. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes as he tore his gaze away. Wayne was only eighteen, a close friend of his. He had told Gage numerous times about his plans after the war. He wanted to finish medical school and become a doctor like his father.   
But his entire life, eighteen years of experience and seventy more that would never happen, had just been erased in an instant. Gage hugged his knees and cried for a long time until he realized there were more voices over a loudspeaker.   
"—harmed! I say again, any Cornerian military, come out and surrender now and you will not be harmed!"   
Surrender. Gage had no idea what would happen in the Venom prison, but he did know one thing: If he didn't surrender, he would end up like Wayne. Giving one last glance to his friend, Gage took off his helmet and slowly stood up, hands raised.   
  


* * *   
  


_Six years later_   
_Emayn, governor's mansion, guest quarters_   
_0013 hours_   
  
  


Gage abruptly stopped his story and stared out into the night, absently scratching the scar behind his left ear. It was the first time he had told the story in full to anyone, and he felt drained…but also somewhat relieved, like a huge weight had been taken from his back. The images he had so descriptively portrayed slowly faded from his sight, mingling with the gentle sway of the trees outside his window then disappearing completely. But something else was bothering him…   
Fox stared wide-eyed at Gage's back, visualizing the scene in his head. He had never been in a huge ground battle, only either huge air battles or small ground skirmishes. In space, you don't see the body of the pilot you just blew up. You're also spared the sight of seeing your comrades' corpses. He knew Gage had been in the war, but he had never seen a battle depicted that clearly or horrifically.   
"You see," Gage continued after a few seconds. "It never changes. Killing now is the same as killing was back then. I've just gotten so used to it. The bastard who shot Wayne didn't know what he was doing, how he affected people. Every time we kill someone, we're killing someone's son, someone's brother, father, husband. Fucking Venom…" Gage lowered his face into his hands and said in a near whisper. "My God…look at us, Fox…what the hell are we doing."   
Fox knew his thoughts; he had them before, and they were tough to deal with. But the last thing he needed now was Gage cracking on him. He stood up and slowly walked over to Gage, another gentle wind whirling through the room.   
"Gage, you're thinking about this all wrong. You're talking about this like we just walked into a supermarket and shot everyone inside. Think about what you did today. Yes, you killed a lot of people. But so did they. Think of how many innocent lives you saved today. You said it the best yourself, down on the beach. They're not just anyone, they're Venom soldiers. With every one of them you kill, you're doing Lylat some good."   
Gage raised his head and looked Fox square in the eye, a piercing gaze, as if he was trying to look past Fox's eyes into his mind to see if he meant what he was saying. The stare slowly built itself back into the stony expression that Gage always wore before that night. "You're right."   
"Listen, you're just a little shaken up from this whole thing. Get some sleep and forget about it. We're the good guys, Gage, remember that. Feel better?"   
Gage slowly nodded. "Yeah, a little…thanks, McCloud."   
"No problem." Fox stood up and walked towards the door when he heard his partner's voice again, this time sounding like the old Gage.   
"Hey, McCloud."   
Fox stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"   
"You did good today," Gage said without turning around.   
"Thanks," Fox replied, grinning wearily. He then continued out the door and clicked it shut behind him. Minutes later, Gage's light clicked off, sleep overcoming him almost immediately.   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


_The next morning_   
_Rogara Outpost, Venom_   
_0721 hours_   
  
  


It was still dark in the commander's office, despite the rising sun peeking over the sandy horizon. Its largeness and sheer gray metal walls made it so that it was nearly impossible to make a move without an echo accompanying it. The office was devoid of any furniture save the large metal desk towards the back, a huge window behind it overlooking the entire outpost. A dark figure stood at that window, clothed in a Venom officer's uniform with a black robe, hands clasped behind his back.   
The door to the office slid open and a tall cheetah slowly walked in, his slow footsteps echoing in the emptiness. His red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as he stopped a few feet from the commander's desk, looking intently at the dark figure at the window.   
"Charon," the commander said in a somewhat amused voice, not turning around. "You're the only person who would come that far without a word."   
Charon Bond still said nothing, his stony gaze fixed on the commander.   
"Look at it, Charon," the commander continued, gazing past the walls of the outpost at the incomprehensibly huge construction site beyond. Thousands of figures, mostly civilians 'persuaded' into working for him, toiled at the building. "Overlord will soon breathe once again. Both of our desires will be fulfilled."   
"How much longer?" Charon said in a low voice, slitting his red eyes. "It has already been two months past when you said it would be done."   
"I can't help complications. They happen." The commander turned and faced Charon, his face still shrouded in darkness. He looked over his black civilian clothes and said, "You still won't wear the uniform?"   
"I'll never wear the uniform of Venom," Charon replied in a near whisper. "Nor that of Corneria. I owe allegiance to no one."   
The commander turned back to the window and raised his hand in a dismissive wave. "Yes, yes, I've heard the speech before, spare me."   
Charon scowled and continued. He wanted to give his report and leave the commander's presence before his emotions got the better of him. "We received the report back from Emayn."   
"Oh?" The commander's tail slowly swung back and forth in an almost lazy manner, as was characteristic of him when he was in deep thought.   
"The landing failed. Nearly all forces were wiped out, but we were able to get two positive IDs on the help that arrived."   
"One must be Fox McCloud."   
"Yes. The other was a Captain Gage Birse of the Cornerian Special Forces."   
The commander's tail stopped dead in mid-swing and the room fell silent once again. After a few seconds, he said in a near whisper, "Gage Birse…of course, the captain of Dagger. He could be trouble. Especially if working with McCloud."   
Charon said nothing. He couldn't care less about the commander, but it was his job to see Overlord through to its finish. He had to. If these two were going to be trouble for Overlord, then they were trouble for him. "Should we mobilize another force for Emayn?"   
The commander chuckled, the sound echoing through the room and making it sound as if there was an audience. "No, Charon. Emayn was just bait."   
"Bait?"   
"I knew McCloud would come running the second Emayn was in trouble. We now know that he is involved in this, and he has a partner, and the Cornerian government now thinks that Overlord is still dependant on relay stations. The objective of our attack on Emayn was accomplished."   
Charon knew he shouldn't be surprised at what he was hearing, but he still was. His demeanor never changed, however. He could never afford to let his emotions be seen. "You sent all those men to die just to check for McCloud?"   
"Charon, I am the commander of the Venom Army because I can make these kinds of decisions. You are where you are because of your recklessness. Simply do what you're told and leave the rest to me." Charon thought he could see a humorless grin spread on the commander's muzzle in the darkness. "Besides, who are you to talk? You're helping me in the development of a superweapon. What do you think we're going to do with it, leave it there for decoration?"   
_'I said I'd help you build it,_' the cheetah thought. _'I never said I'd let you use it.'_   
Charon stood his ground and stared at the dark figure. He could feel anger rising, the same anger he had felt since the day the commander forced him to work for him. "I want to see my father."   
"You've already seen him."   
"That was months ago."   
"And you will never see him again unless you do what I say!" the commander shouted, whirling back around to face the cheetah. "Once Overlord is completed, you will be free to go with him. Until then, you and your skills are mine, is that clear?"   
It was all Charon could do to keep his anger under control. He had no choice; he knew it and it frustrated him. He hated Venom, he hated the commander, he hated everyone around him on this desolate planet. Everyone except his father, who was the only family he had left. Greold Bond meant everything to Charon, and he would do anything to see him again…including work for the commander.   
"Like fucking crystal," Charon uttered angrily. He turned and stormed out of the room, leaving the commander to gaze out his window at the near-finished terror being built before him.   
  


**_ -Chapter 6 coming soon-_**   



	7. Hot Trail

[Author's Note: Chapter 6, where we get a little closer to the truth, and a plan is made. Thanks for reading and enjoy! Foxmerc] 

CHAPTER 6   
Hot Trail   
_Emayn, Main Square_   
_0912 hours_   
As usual, Gage was already awake out by time Fox staggered out into the square, his arm raised to block the bright morning sun. The day before had exhausted him, and it seemed like every muscle in his body ached. He wasn't sure if Gage felt the same way, but he suspected not. The battle was just another day at the office for him. Falco would still be snoring away, of course.   
Two things Fox noticed that were major improvements from the previous day were Gage and the square itself. The clean-up crew that had done an incredible job last time Fox was there apparently hadn't lost any of its work ethic. The injured were moved to the now-freed hospital, and the bodies were either buried or moved out of site. Had it not been for the overturned truck and a few blast craters, it would've appeared there was never even a battle.   
Gage seemed like his old self too, the usual grim expression, constantly glancing around as if he was expecting the entire Venom army to come charging over the wall at any second. No sign of the little talk he and Fox had the night before.   
Fox groggily walked over as Gage saw him and beckoned. "You two are up bright and early."   
"I haven't gone to sleep yet," Jay said, and now that Fox was closer, he looked it. "I just went inside to get changed and cleaned up."   
Gage opted to skip the small talk and got right down to business. "Fox, the officers that arrived with the reinforcements finished interrogating the prisoners. It looks like we were wrong."   
"Huh? Wrong with what?"   
Jay took over. "Last time they invaded, it was because they needed to build a relay tower here for Overlord, right?"   
"Yeah. Isn't this the same thing?"   
"Doesn't look like it," Gage continued, glancing at the road. "The Venom sergeant had the official orders on him. It said that they were to attempt to take over Emayn, but if they did not do so within four days or had any sightings of outside help, then to get an ID and pull out. When we asked them about any building materials or shipments following, they seemed as confused as the interrogators."   
Fox hesitated, trying to piece it together. "Wait…so you're saying they weren't planning on building a relay tower. Why the hell did they invade then?"   
Gage and Jay shrugged in unison, and the fox continued. "Well, it said to pull out if they got an ID on any outside help. Almost as if they were testing the water to see if it was safe. Testing for you maybe?"   
The idea was disturbing, but also oddly flattering to Fox. Had the Venom army gotten smarter in the past year? Was this merely a test to see if he would come running in blindly? Or… "Wait, if they pulled out, that means that they don't get a tower here, like last time. That means Overlord will only be half effective."   
"That, or Overlord doesn't need relay towers anymore," Gage cut in. "I called General Pepper after I found out about the interrogation, and he says there have been no reports of attacks on the other sites that were used for relay towers last time."   
Fox didn't like the sound of that at all. Overlord could be anywhere, and they had no leads or places to look without Venom activity. "So we're right back at square one," he mumbled.   
Gage nodded, a flicker of disappointment showing in his expression. "Unless you know someone who's buddies with the commander of the Venom army."   
Fox scoffed and turned away, but stopped short. An idea popped into his head, an idea he thought he would never have again. _'No way, that's crazy,'_ he thought, shaking his head slowly.   
"Fox?" Jay said behind him. "Are you ok?"   
It was their last chance. As much as he didn't want to, they had to do it. "I think I may know someone."   
  
  
* * *   
  
  
_Two days later_   
_High-security military prison, just outside Corneria City_   
_1533 hours_   
  
  


Fox took deep breaths to slow his heart down as he paced the small, windowless metal room. A nondescript table occupied the center of the room, four chairs surrounding it, one of which held Gage. Falco had decided to skip the meeting, which made Fox feel somewhat better. His friend's emotions and temper were never very stable or predictable.   
"You sure about this?" Gage asked, breaking the pressing silence in the room.   
Fox shook his head, taking off his gloves and rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants. He wasn't sure about anything. "I don't know, but we have to do this. Just keep an eye out. If it looks like things might get out of control…do something."   
"Like what?"   
"I don't know, just step in."   
Gage shrugged and leaned back in the chair. Seconds later, they heard a series of clicks on the heavy metal door and Fox turned towards it, bracing himself for what he was about to see.   
The door creaked open, and in stepped a brown feline security guard. He held the door open for a figure in orange prison garb, secured with handcuffs and leg-irons. A black jaguar…Stefan Chuzie.   
The expected surge of hatred boiled up, but Fox was ready for it and managed to keep an expressionless face. Stefan stepped in, looking first surprised then the same hatred that Fox was feeling took form on his face. The guard motioned to the nearest chair and Stefan cautiously moved forward with a slight limp in his left leg and sat in it, looking untrustingly at Fox and Gage. With a gesture towards the security camera to let Fox know they were watching, the guard quickly exited the room and clicked the door shut behind him.   
Fox realized he was shaking slightly and took a few more deep breaths before speaking to the source of his hatred and suffering. "Stefan…" was all he was able to get out.   
"McCloud…long time." Just hearing Stefan's voice again made Fox's pulse race. "You come here to gloat? Doc says I'll have a slight limp for the rest of my life, which isn't too long anyway. Another few months. I knew I'd see you before the execution." His eyes shifted to Gage. "Who's your pal here?"   
"Captain Gage Birse, Cornerian Army," Fox replied, finding his vocal chords in working order again. "We're not here to gloat. If it were up to me, I'd be perfectly happy never seeing you again. Instead, we're here to make a deal."   
"A deal," Stefan scoffed. "Why the hell would you want to make a deal?"   
Gage cut in. "There's a new Overlord being built, and you're the only person we know who as either seen or spoken to the commander directly. You would've had to in order to get the Arwings you used to frame McCloud."   
Fox gritted his teeth, the events of the false accusation playing again in his mind, the surreal environment surrounding it again clouding his thoughts. Everything had happened so fast, just one battle and one frustration after another. Everything except seeing Vixy torn apart by Stefan's laser. That had happened nice and slow, with Fox in front row, center. His teeth ground harder as he again saw her body heave forward, the blood spraying on Fox…holding her in his arms, seeing the once vigorous life slowly drain from her eyes…the ring, her engagement ring, the small band of gold that signified so much, rolling from her limp hand onto the bloody carpet.   
Fox shook his head hard and brought himself back to the present. He had just begun to get over the dreams, and seeing Stefan was not the healthiest thing to do. Fate had not been on Fox's good side in a long time, but it seems it had a larger plan, and he was in it whether he liked it or not. Many times since his victory over IceStorm, Fox had wondered what stayed his hand up in the Cornerian Grand hotel. Why had he not killed Stefan? What force had made his lasers hit Stefan in the leg and shoulder instead of his chest or head? Maybe this was the answer…Stefan still had a part to play.   
Fox decided to save the deep thinking for later and to find out whether Stefan really did still have a use.   
"We've already talked to the general, and he's made the arrangements," Fox continued, barely believing what he was about to say, avoiding the jaguar's eyes for fear he would lose control. "The deal is that you tell us everything you know about the commander and Overlord, every contact you ever had with him, and if it leads to something…then the death penalty will be lifted." He stared at the floor, mentally pummeling himself for making the offer. He knew he wouldn't like it when they talked to Pepper, but it would be the only way to make him talk.   
Stefan didn't seem any more overjoyed by the offer. "Come on, McCloud. Some days, I almost wish you did kill me in the hotel. What kind of life is this anyway?"   
"You'd still have hope," Fox replied angrily, leaning on the table and staring directly at his enemy. "Isn't that enough? What kind of hope did you leave Vixy? What kind of hope did you leave me that I would ever see her again? At least you still have a chance. That's the offer, take it or leave it."   
Stefan's expression melted somewhat and he leaned back, taking his time to think. After a minute, in which Fox half-hoped he would decline the offer, the jaguar said, "Alright, fine. Ask away."   
Gage nodded and began. "When was your first contact with the commander?"   
"About half-way through the completion of Overlord. He offered IceStorm two-hundred grand to capture a few spots for relay towers and to guard Overlord until it could be used. Of course, you fucked that up pretty well."   
"So you've seen the commander?" Fox asked, ignoring the comment.   
"No, not in person. Wolf O'Donnell made the offer to us, but I met with the Venom high staff during one of their monthly meetings on Macbeth. The commander was there, but he stayed back in the shadows. Never showed himself. That was after Overlord, when I told him my plan to frame you and asked for the Arwings."   
"Did they ever say anything about another Overlord?"   
Stefan shook his head. "Not that I heard."   
This wasn't getting them anywhere. After a minute of silence, Gage leaned forward with a thoughtful expression and said, "Let's go back a minute. What are these monthly meetings you were talking about?"   
"On the thirteenth of every month, the Venom high staff meets on Macbeth to exchange status reports from the posts all over Lylat and to plan new stuff, from what I saw anyway. I went to a couple of them. They're in a civilian office building, on the, uh…thirty-second floor."   
"And the commander was there for all of them?"   
"Yeah."   
Gage looked at Fox, eyebrows raised, and Fox knew what he was thinking. They now knew where and when they could find the commander. Fox nodded and the captain continued.   
"Could you tell us the location of where they meet?"   
Stefan hesitated, then slowly said, "I could…but I want some kind of witness protection thing. If they find out I squealed…"   
"It can be arranged," Gage said, taking a pen and small pad of paper from his pocket. "Besides, if you're right, they won't be around to know you told us. What's the address?"   
Stefan reluctantly told him, and Gage pocketed the materials again. "Well, I think that's all we need." He waved towards the security camera, and the guard appeared seconds later. Stefan stood up and looked at Fox in a kind of amused way. "I guess we'll never see each other again."   
"If God has any mercy left to spare," Fox muttered, staring at the wall. Stefan was led out and Fox let out a sigh, as if a gun pointed at his head had just been lowered. He prayed he would never see that face again, the face of the demon who destroyed his love and his life.   
  


* * *   
  


_Later_   
_White Flame Café, Corneria City_   
_1707 hours_   
  
  
  


"I don't know," Fox said, his first grin of the day spreading across his muzzle. "You just don't seem like the milkshake type."   
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gage replied, taking another sip of the thick chocolate beverage in front of him. "What 'type' am I?"   
Fox shrugged and munched on another onion ring from his plate. "You know, the raw red meat type, rough-tough. You look like a kit sipping that thing."   
After one of his "whatever" shrugs that Fox had become accustomed to, Gage said, "Hey, I like milkshakes, sue me," and took another long draw from the straw.   
Fox sat back in the booth and gazed out the small diner's grimy window at the passing vehicles, the pedestrians hustling home from work or shopping, or getting ready for a night in the big city. The sun was already blocked by the massive skyscrapers, but the orange and red blaze of the sky still brightened the crowded street.   
"Thanks for doing most of the talking in there," Fox suddenly said, still staring at the beautiful sky. "I probably couldn't have done that myself."   
"No problem," Gage replied between sips, "We got a pretty solid lead from it. Today's the tenth, which means this meeting is in three days. Perfect opportunity to get info on Overlord and possibly take out this commander also."   
Fox nodded, his eyes stuck on a feline mother holding her toddler son by the hand, the latter joyfully hopping down the street. The city and its inhabitants had seen so much strife and felt so much stress in the recent years. The war had devastated the city, and it had been a hotspot for terrorism and battles ever since. Had it not been for the first Overlord's destruction, the city might not even be there. And somewhere out there, once again, was a threat great enough for that potential.   
"You hear me?"   
Fox nodded, tearing his gaze away from the window and to his crumb-filled plate. "Well, that's the obvious plan, but it'll be a happy trick to pull off. How're we getting close enough to do all that?"   
"We aren't getting close to anything," Gage said, taking one last sip followed by the airy slurp of an empty glass. "I am going in on this one alone."   
"Like hell you are. If we hadn't been together on Emayn—"   
"Yeah, I know, but we were expecting combat on Emayn. Fox, this is what I do best, it's my job. I go in there, record the meeting, and get out. If the opportunity presents itself, I take out the commander. Maximum of one shot fired, disappear without a trace. No sense having two people do the job of one, and you're not exactly the stealthy type."   
"I could be," Fox replied a bit defensively. "Pretty confident in your skills, aren't you?"   
"They haven't failed me yet. All I need from you and Lombardi is to pick me up when I'm done. Leave the rest to me."   
Fox hesitated. Deep down, he knew his partner was right, but he hated sitting out of anything. The tenseness was worse in the wait than in the fray. He reluctantly nodded. "Alright, but I want to know the exact plan."   
"Fine," Gage replied. He slid the rectangular napkin holder into the center of the table and placed a salt shaker on top. "This is the building, and I'm the salt. I get onto the roof and rappel down to the window outside the thirty-second floor. You or Lombardi can take a look from far away and direct me." He moved the salt shaker down and held it around the middle of the napkin holder. He then slid a small bottle of hot sauce to the end of the table. "Now, you're the hot sauce—"   
"But I hate hot sauce," Fox cut in, picking up the pepper shaker and twirling it in hishand. "Is this the general?"   
Gage rolled his eyes and continued. "From outside the window, I'll use a laser microphone to record what they're saying. When we have enough info, I'll see if I can get a clear shot, and I'll take it if I do. You have to be ready to haul ass to the roof," he moved the salt back onto the top of the holder and slid the hot sauce over. "Where I'll be waiting."   
"You're counting on a lot of luck. What if they see you through the window?"   
"I'll stay off to the side."   
Fox shrugged. Gage would be counting on his training and instincts, and he hoped that would be enough. He didn't like being in a position where he wasn't immediately able to provide backup. "It's your ass on the line, if that's how you want to do it, then ok."   
Gage nodded. "Alright, let's head for Macbeth then. I want to get a look at this building before we do it."   
A cute female wolf brought the check and gave Gage a wink, which Fox rolled his eyes at. The captain picked up the check, gave it a wide-eyed glance, and slid it to Fox. "Here, you're the one getting paid fifty grand for this."   
  


* * *   
  
  


_Two days later_   
_Rogara Outpost, Venom_   
_1328 hours_   
  
  
  
  
  
  


Charon noticed that the sun never seemed to grace the commander's office with its warmth and light. As he gave a quick scan of the empty room, he felt that was appropriate. The beauties of life, those things which had long forsaken Charon, were reserved for those who deserved them. The cheetah knew he was not at the top of that list, but much higher than the commander.   
He turned away from the dead room back into the corridor and saw a reptilian soldier walking the other way. The crimson sash around his shoulder marked him as an aide, so Charon called to him as if calling after someone who had just punched him, "Hey, you!"   
The lizard spun around and nearly lost bladder control when he saw the owner of the voice. "Y-yes, Sir?"   
Charon slowly stepped closer, his red eyes boring into the aide's frightened face. He was frustrated and scaring the hell out of the pitiful aides always brightened his mood. "Where's the commander? I need to remind him of the meeting tomorrow."   
The lizard raised a shaking hand and pointed down the corridor. "He went…t-to inspect the, uh…progress of…of…Overlord…Sir. In fact, he-he just left."   
Charon sighed. That bastard was supposed to tell him things like this so he didn't waste his time running around looking for him like one of these damn aides. The presence of the lizard started to get on his nerves, so he waved him away, much to the aide's relief, and strode down the hall towards the elevator. Maybe he could catch up to him at the subway transport.   
As the doors to the elevator slid shut in front of its sole traveler, Charon looked at his reflection in the shining metal. He didn't know if he liked what he saw, but that didn't matter. He would have plenty of time for soul-searching and deep thinking once this was all over. Once he was free of Overlord and the damn commander, once he was in safety with his father.   
His thoughts floated around and came to rest on the aide upstairs. It was amusing how all the soldiers feared him…except t he commander of course. After what he had done, it would make a battle-hardened warrior weep like a baby. That day months ago… 

Charon had been fueled by pure hatred and adrenaline. It flowed through him, as thick as his blood, taking over his actions. He knew they had his father…the entire Cornerian Army scouting squad had been captured when they discovered the outpost. He and his father were as close as parents and sons could get, and the rest of the army dispatch retreated when they didn't hear back from his father's squad. But Charon would not…there was no way he was leaving his father on that God-forsaken planet.   
When he arrived at the outpost, he didn't want to kill the guards at the gate…he wanted to rip them limb from limb; anger management had never been his strong point, and this time his recklessness got him in trouble. Using the shadows of the night and his own stealth abilities, Charon was able to get close enough to where he didn't have to break the silence with a gunshot. But it had been in vain.   
Seeing the hated Venom insignia on the guards' uniforms broke the shred of self-control he had clung to. With an inarticulate roar, Charon leapt from the shadows with amazing swiftness, knife in hand. Before he knew what was happening, the first guard fell to the ground with a gaping neck wound, his head on the edge of decapitation. The second guard stumbled backwards, trying to bring his rifle up, that scared glint in his eyes that Charon liked so much. The cheetah kicked the gun to the side, continued into a circle spin and slashed the knife across the guard's chest. He slashed again and again until the guard's torso was a mess of red ribbon.   
The scuffle had attracted a patrol of four soldiers from inside the base. Charon dove to the side of the gate as it slid open to a grinding halt, the four soldiers cautiously moved through, rifles shouldered and covering all directions, none noticing the dark figure in the shadows of the wall beside the gate. One of them bent over the second guard corpse and examined it, the desert wind and shard breathing the only sounds heard.   
Charon saw his chance and took it. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the knife shot through the air and dug itself to the hilt in the back guard's neck. The next guard spun around in time to see his comrade's body crumple to the sand to reveal a very angry-looking cheetah run out of the shadows, his pistol blazing. His first two shots took the guard in the chest, his third piercing the second guard's head.   
The guard who was inspecting the dead soldier dropped prone from his kneeling position and returned fire, the lasers from his rifle kicking up sand and deflecting from the metal wall as Charon dove to the side, firing six shots before he landed prone on the ground. The two that connected with the last guard were all he needed to silence the firing.   
Barely even out of breath, Charon gave a last angry glance over the six bodies and turned to enter the base…but he let his guard down at a critical time. As he entered the gate, a rifle butt swung from the side, from the very shadows he had used to hide in, and struck him in the head. With a blinding flash of white, Charon fell to the ground and groaned. His head felt like a grenade had exploded inside it, but he forced himself to open his eyes and stand to face the attacker. With a shake of his head, he scrambled to a kneeling position and opened his eyes…and froze.   
At least thirty soldiers stood across the base's courtyard, all with their rifles trained on him. Charon didn't know how long he kneeled there, his hand hovering over his pistol, the guards' triggers millimeters away from fully pulled. Neither had to make the first move. Instead, a very slow clapping broke the silence. The owner of the applause stepped forward from behind the soldiers, looking down at Charon with a humorless grin.   
"Amazing show," he said, ceasing his clapping. "I've rarely seen such skill with a knife or pistol. Do you have a name?"   
"Charon Bond," the cheetah answered with a low growl. "And you better get to know this face, you bastard. It's gonna be the last thing you see before I rip your heart out."   
The figure cocked an eyebrow, not seeming to notice Charon's threat. "Bond, eh? There was a Bond in a scout squad that happened to drop by today."   
Charon bowed his head as the unidentified person chuckled at his new-found knowledge. "I think I see. Well, Mr. Bond, it seems that you are in luck. Had anyone else done this, I would've already ordered them killed. But I like your way of combat. Instead, we'll make a deal."   
The pain in Charon's head throbbed, and he had trouble thinking straight. A deal? He'd rather die than make a deal with that piece of shit.   
"The deal," he continued. "is simple. You work for me, be my bodyguard and the guard of a little project I'm heading. Once this project is done, with me alive to see it, I will release you and your father. If not…" the evil grin returned to his muzzle. "Not only will you die, but your father will also be tortured and killed. Very simple, as I said. What's your answer?"   
_'My answer…'_   


With a ding, the elevator door's slid open, Charon's reflection vanishing and being replaced by the underground transport docking bay. His memories faded as he looked around the platform and finally spotted the commander waiting with a squad of guards. It pained him to think of walking over towards his enemy, to be again in his presence. It pained him to think that any time he could probably just walk out the gates and never see the base or the commander again. But he couldn't, or the bastard he was serving would kill his only family. Never before had a prisoner been so free and yet so trapped.   
With a sigh, Charon stepped out of the elevator.   
"My answer…fuck you."   
  


**_-Chapter 7 coming soon!-_**


	8. The True Enemy

  
[Author's Note: My apologies for the delayed update, the holidays were pretty busy. This chapter's a bit shorter than the others, but don't worry, it's just as important as the others, if not more so. Updates should be back on track now, expect chapter 8 within a week. Thanks for reading and enjoy! Foxmerc]   


CHAPTER 7   
The True Enemy   
_The next day_   
_Macbeth City, Macbeth_   
_0746 hours_   
  
  
  


  
The howling wind echoed in Gage's ears and rippled through his fur as he stared at the sparkling lights and immense structures of Macbeth City. He hadn't re-visited the city since the battle there, but not because he was afraid; he just had no reason to. But now, staring across the city, the old emotions pushed and pulled at his stomach, the sounds of combat still echoing in his mind through the streets far below, the horrific sights mingling with the normal flow of civilian life.   
"The wind's acting up a little." Fox's voice in his ear snapped Gage out of his daydreaming. "You sure it'll be safe to rappel down?"   
"Safe or not, it has to be done," Gage replied into his headset. "God knows when Overlord will be done, it's now or never."   
"That's not what I asked." Fox was edgy from having to stay on the Great Fox, not being able to give backup in a heartbeat. If Gage slipped up, not only were their chances of discovering Overlord shot, but he would be alone in a Venom-controlled skyscraper.   
"Trust me," Gage said absently, securing the tough cord through the carabiner on his belt and triple-checking the knot connecting it to the roof. "I once got stuck in training and had to dangle upside down three-hundred feet up for ten minutes while I worked the tangle free."   
"That's reassuring. I see you're a real pro at this."   
"Hey, I said it was back in training," Gage retorted with a grin. "Just be ready to get me on the roof."   
"No problem. Looks like it's about time, the meeting's in five minutes. Take it Falco, you're the eyes now."   
Falco yawned and stretched at his position across the street from the target, on the roof of a slightly smaller building. He had a clear view of the entire side. "'Bout time." He picked up the detached scope of a sniper rifle and looked through it, counting up the windows until the thirty-second floor. Most of the windows were dark, the workers gone home, but three were lit. One showed an ovular table flanked by ten or so people. They all wore green or blue uniforms. "I think I found the party. Start down; I'll direct you when you're there. Don't slip, Hotshot."   
Gage snorted and backed slowly over the roof, keeping his legs stiff. The distant glowing and motion of the street far below made him momentarily nauseous, but he swallowed it continued to shuffle down the side of the building. Once he was a few feet from the roof, he bent his legs and hopped outwards, sliding down the rope a few yards and silently landing against the side of the building again. He repeated the process for another couple dozen floors, careful to keep away from the vertical line of windows, until Falco's voice sounded in his ear.   
"Ok, stop. It's two more floors down, to your left."   
Gage shuffled down and slid over until he was right next to the said window. "Here?"   
"That's it."   
"Alright, starting the recording. Stand by." Gage clipped the rope again to free his hands and dug the laser-microphone from his left thigh holster. Flicking it on, he shuffled a bit more towards the window, careful to keep in the shadows. He held it by its pistol grip and pointed towards the window. Immediately, his headset filled with light static and the sound of man unfamiliar voices, apparently in a heated discussion.   
"—on schedule! My men are losing morale with all this inactivity."   
"Overlord IS on schedule, General, as the commander said. Are you questioning his word?"   
"I'm not questioning anything, I'm just saying that the men need a victory."   
"Well, maybe YOU would like to attack Corneria with the forces we have? We don't stand a chance!"   
A calm, stern voice interrupted the bantering, its authority silencing the room immediately. "A frontal attack will not be necessary anytime soon. Overlord is on schedule, I assure you all, and there will be a demonstration next week. For this, I highly recommend that none of you remain in this city. It's going to get a little hot." A low chuckle followed, accompanied by nervous laughter from the generals.   
That voice…Gage knew that voice, but he hadn't heard it in a long time and couldn't place it. So familiar…   
Gage stepped towards the window and slowly peeked in. Green- and blue-clad officers occupied the table, but the chair on the far end had its back to the rest. Gage was immediately reminded of the cartoons he used to watch, where the bad guy had his chair turned from the hero, then it spun around and there was no one there. This time, however, there was someone there.   
As the chair slowly turned towards the table, Gage noticed a tall, stern-looking cheetah standing at the far wall by the door. He was staring right at the window, but hadn't seen him yet. Gage stayed as still as he could dangling from a rope, and his attention turned back to the chair.   
As if taking another cue from some damn movie, the chair was shrouded in darkness. The mystery didn't last for long. Gage squinted as the chair's occupant leaned forward into the light and said, "Overlord is our key to success. With it, nothing can stop us."   
Gage hardly heard what was said. He gaped at the uncovered figure, the voice immediately finding its place in his memory. Time froze as he stared through the window, refusing to believe what he saw. Everything was driven from his thoughts except the impossibility of the situation…everything including his stance.   
Gravity had its effect on the weakened Gage and he lost his footing on the wall. The clipped rope stopped him, but not before flipping to the side and smacking against the window. All sounds through the microphone ceased as the officers spun towards him.   
"Smooth move, Slick," Falco's voice sounded distantly in his ear, but then the avian saw how bad it was. "Oh shit! You hit the window?!"   
"Dammit," Gage mumbled. He shoved back to the side as a laser ripped through the window, another shattering it. He quickly holstered the mic and took out his real heater.   
In his confused panic, Gage's hand hit against his carabiner and the rope began to slide through, burning his hand right through the glove. He grabbed it on the last few inches as it slipped out of the metal loop.   
"Birse!" Falco shouted. "You ok?"   
"I'm dangling on the last two inches of a fucking rope thirty floors up, how ok do you think I am?!"   
"Hold on, I'm on my way!" Fox said.   
Gage fired from his free hand at the window, making the soldiers duck back in. He hoped none of them got the bright idea to shoot out the rope.   
After a few more rounds of holding them back, Gage heard a low hum and saw a silver glint in the distance. The Arwing boosted up to him and slowed to a hover beneath him.   
"Higher!" Gage said as the ship slowly elevated. When it was a few feet under him, he let go, landing on the right wing and causing the ship to rock dangerously. "The roof! Go!"   
"What?! Why?!"   
"The commander! He's getting away!"   
"Screw him; we got what we came for. You said only if you—"   
"Dammit, McCloud, go to the roof! I have to see something!"   
Fox squinted through the canopy at Gage's bewildered face. "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."   
It would've been funny if it wasn't so damn true. "Just go."   
Fox shrugged and elevated towards the roof, careful not to go too fast for his passenger's sake. The roof came into view, revealing a dropship with its ramp down. The commander and the cheetah were boarding it.   
"Land!" Gage shouted.   
The Arwing touched down as the two spun around to face it. Gage hopped off and pointed his gun at the commander, the cheetah raising his own in a mirror image of the frantic captain. Fox quickly opened the canopy and hopped out, pulling out his own gun.   
The commander made no motion to defend himself, but instead raised his hand to the cheetah, who slowly lowered his gun. He stepped forward, shadows playing along his face, and spoke. "Gage…I was hoping you wouldn't pursue this. I don't want to kill you."   
The voice spun in Fox's memory, same as it had for Gage. He looked over at his partner and saw a look of pain and disbelief, as if he found out his wife was cheating on him. Gage slowly lowered his gun as well and said in a low voice, "How…why…?"   
Feeling like he was missing something, Fox stepped forward, his gun still at the ready, squinting at the figure as it stepped into the light. He understood in a second as he gaped at the red fox, his own senses dulled in disbelief. With a struggling, strained voice, he finally choked out the name.   
"…Ike?"   
  


**_-Chapter 8 coming soon-_**   
**__**


	9. Into the Fire

[Author's Note: I'm sorry once again for the delay. School started up again, but everything's in order now, so chapter 9 should be along shortly. Thanks for reading and enjoy! Foxmerc]   
  


CHAPTER 8   
Into the Fire   
_Macbeth City_   
_2007 hours_   
  
  


"…Ike?"   
The tall red fox, clothed in the uniform of the force Gage had sworn to defeat, stepped forward into full light as Fox choked out the name. The dull glow from the surrounding city proved the apparition it to be true, freezing the minds and dulling the senses of the other two foxes on the roof.   
"I…I thought you were dead," Gage said in a low voice carrying all his pain and confusion. "What happened? And why…why are you with…_Venom_?"   
Ike sighed and glanced at Fox to make sure his trigger finger wasn't getting itchy. He then fixed his eyes on Gage with an expression halfway between sadness and amusement and slowly shook his head.   
"You were always one step behind, Gage," he said in a voice slightly deeper than his brother's. "You never see things clearly. I guess we'll never settle this unless you know what happened, so I'll tell you. Least I could do for my little brother."   
Gage grimaced a bit at this, but let Ike continue.   
"I've been with Venom for some time now, about two years. The remnant forces of Venom were sprawled and leaderless after the war. After a few years of failed leadership, I received an offer. They decided they needed someone who was a battle-hardened veteran and used to leadership. Most of that kind on their side was killed in the war."   
"But why?" the other Birse interrupted. "You were respected in the Cornerian Army—"   
"Tell me, Gage, what's your pay these days? Is your name ever on the news when you risk your life and save lives? No. Garbage collectors get more money, AND more recognition."   
"It's not about the money—"   
"Then what's it for, Gage?!" Ike shot back, inflamed for some reason. Fox kept a firm grip on his pistol. "Huh? Why do you put your life on the line? 'Cause it's the right thing to do? Don't give me that bullshit. Whoever's more powerful determines what's right."   
Gage either didn't have an answer or didn't know how to put it in words. Ike took the silence as a victory and continued his story.   
"After a year getting the Venom army up to something of a formidable force again, it was decided that I needed to disappear. If Corneria found out, it could be detrimental. I was overjoyed when given the task to work with McCloud. Kill two birds with one stone."   
He shifted his gaze over to Fox and continued. "No need to feel guilty about the unfortunate demise of Dagger squad. The dropship was not shot down; I was able to hide a bomb in it. Good move for you to choose to go in alone, Fox. I wasn't too mad when I found out. Who would've thought you could get through StarWolf and escape that place alone? Disappointing that you made it."   
"So how did you get out?" Fox asked, trying to piece it together like a movie with a twist ending.   
"Simple," Ike replied without missing a beat, starting a slow pace in front of the ship. "I jumped out and detonated the bomb. The damned ship was too high though, and I broke my ankle. A ship was planned to pick me up, and did so.   
Of course, the destruction of Overlord devastated the army. We decided that in order to proceed with any plans, you, Fox McCloud, would have to be eliminated. Fortunately, we looked on our contact list, and saw that another group felt the same way. IceStorm."   
Fox tensed at the sound of the name. If Ike had anything to do with Vixy's death, he would let his gun take on a mind of its own.   
"Stefan was eager to take on the job of getting you out of the picture while I oversaw the rebuilding of the army. However…there was ONE part I wanted to see to personally."   
Fox thought he knew what Ike was going to say next.   
"You never did find for certain the person who portrayed you, did you?" Ike said with a grin and light chuckle. He was definitely enjoying the moment. "I always hated General Monagi, and I always hated you. Shooting him AND being able to hurt you at the same time was a chance too good to pass up. The civilians, well…there will always be collateral damage."   
"You piece of shit!" Fox spat out, his blood boiling from anger. His shred of self-control managed to stop him from making a fatal mistake. As he was about to raise his gun, he noticed the cheetah, calmly rest his hand on the grip of his own. The swiftness with which he raised his gun earlier made Fox think twice, and he lowered it again."   
Ike continued in a calm voice, ignoring Fox. "Of course, Stefan somehow managed to screw that whole operation up, but it didn't matter. He bought us enough time to regroup the army and start on the new Overlord. And that brings us to the present." He stopped his ponderous pacing and looked at his brother. "It doesn't have to be like this, Gage. Join me. We always worked together well, even when we were kits. Remember me boosting you up to steal the cookies from that high shelf?"   
A sad grin pulled at the sides of Gage's muzzle, but it quickly disappeared. "How could you do this, Ike? Now that I see you're alive, I…I wish you were dead. At least I could keep the good memories I had."   
"How touching," Ike replied, rolling his eyes. "Gage, you're still my brother, and I don't want to kill you…but I won't let you stand in my way. This offer only comes once. Cut out this hero crap and think straight."   
Gage's usual cold and emotionless countenance had understandably totally broken down during the conversation, worse than when he told Fox of the battle in Macbeth City. Fox tried to imagine if his father or Vixy suddenly reappeared as an officer for Venom, threatening to kill him. He quickly derailed that train of thought, figuring he had enough on his plate at the moment to worry about.   
However, as Fox looked over at his partner, he saw that he had the stern, slit-eyed look on his face again. Fox knew immediately he didn't have to worry about Gage's decision; he just had to worry about what the hell to do when he said it and lasers started flying.   
"I am thinking straight," Gage replied, his voice quivering considerably less. "As far as I'm concerned, Ike Birse is dead; the Ike I knew. You're just another piece of Venom trash!"   
What happened next seemed to go in slow motion for Fox. An angry look crossed Ike's face and he spun around and walked into the dropship, giving the cheetah another quick wave and a mutter of "End it, Charon." Fox's heart leapt to his throat as the cheetah raised his pistol in a quick, fluid motion, aimed directly at Gage.   
Gage's awareness was still dulled, and he seemed to be staring at the ship instead of the immediate threat. Fox was still all there upstairs and threw the captain and himself to the deck as a laser scorched the air above them. He fired wildly back from where he lay, most lasers pinging harmlessly against the armored ship. None connected with Charon, but one did the next best thing; it hit his gun, causing it to fly out of his hand in a shower of sparks.   
Fox slowly stood up, keeping his gun trained on Charon's angry red eyes, and began to walk towards him. Just as he was about to pat himself on the back for a job well done, the cheetah grinned and wagged his index finger at Fox, as if telling him no candy before dinner.   
In the Charon's left hand, Fox could barely make out a small, black object. Before he had a chance to wipe the grin off his face, he brought it to his muzzle, said a few words into it, then turned and started into the dropship.   
"Hey! Stop!" Fox shouted, taking a few more steps forward.   
With a lightning-quick motion, Charon spun around and seemed to point at Fox. It wasn't until a glint of metal in the air caught his eye that he realized the cheetah threw something. A millisecond later, Fox heard a deep 'thunk' and was sent stumbling backwards by an unseen force. By the time he regained himself, the cheetah had disappeared into the ship and it was already taking off.   
"Damn it…" Fox muttered. He holstered his gun and started checking himself to see what had hit him.   
"Lucky bastard," Gage said from behind him. Fox turned to face him and he lifted Fox's com headset off and held it to show him. A thin, shiny throwing knife was stuck squarely in the center of the top band.   
"Holy shit," Fox breathed, amazed by another near-brush with death. They would have to watch out for that bodyguard. While he seemed to have a fairly enormous amount of luck, Fox's supply was bound to run out. "Will that thing electrocute me if I pull it out?"   
"One way to find out," Gage replied, tossing it back to his partner. Fox's luck supply held out and he managed to wrench the knife free. He was about to drop it, but suddenly changed his mind and stuck it in his pocket.   
"What's wrong?" Gage asked, noticing Fox's worried expression, then added as an afterthought, "besides everything…"   
"That cheetah…Charon…he said something into his hand, maybe a little comm." Fox suddenly remembered the real estate they were standing on and a pit formed in his stomach. "I think be better get off—"   
Before he could finish, the door at the other end of the roof that lead into the building blew off its frame and black-clad soldiers rushed through the hanging smoke like ghosts in the night. Gage dove behind a nearby power box and Fox sprinted for his Arwing as red lasers darted by them.   
"Come on!" Fox shouted, scrambling into the cockpit.   
"I won't fit!" Gage said back, changing the clip on his gun and firing blindly over the power box a few times.   
"Get on the wing again!"   
As much as Gage loathed the thought of another trip on that thin slab of beat-up metal, he knew it was the only way off. Just as he was about to make a dash for it, the ship pulled violently back off the roof accompanied by a string of curses from Fox. "What is it?"   
"Shields are down," Fox answered through his recently ventilated comm., which was thankfully still working. "They were charging when I rushed back here, completely forgot."   
"Then get out of here," Gage answered, his eye catching something on the edge of the roof. A spark of a plan formed in head. It would be a long-shot, but everything recently seemed to be. "Can you get a charged one and meet me in the lobby?"   
"The lobby?!" Fox answered, swerving further back to avoid the gunfire. He figured it wasn't the time for explanation, just to trust the captain knew what he was doing. "Yeah, give me ten minutes."   


* * *   
  


It all seemed surreal to Gage as he watched the Arwing pull away into the night sky, like a dream he knew he was dreaming. Only he wouldn't wake up from this nightmare. Since Ike's "death", there was so much Gage wished he could tell him, so much he wished they could do. It didn't seem possible, discovering his brother was alive one second and holding a gun to him the next.   
The lasers smoldering the power box were real enough, though, and Gage forced his military mind to take over his emotional one. He holstered his pistol and fixed his gaze on the knot that held his rappel rope, still dangling down. The gunfire had ceased, which meant they'd be moving in. Now or never.   
With a deep breath, Gage shoved off the metal box and sprinted for the edge of the roof, lasers tearing through air and concrete behind him. Before he could change his mind, he vaulted off the edge of the roof, the lights far below swirling in a daze as he plunged towards them. His hand finally found the rope and he held for dear life as he slid a few more stories down, the rope burning his hand through the glove, then came to a halt.   
Not wasting a second and ignoring the searing pain in his hand, Gage shoved off the heavy window, came swinging back, and crashed through onto the carpeted floor of an empty, dark office. He barely had time to sit up before hearing a shot and seeing the rope fall out of view.   
Gage jumped to his feet and checked himself quickly for broken glass before unholstering his pistol and moving to the small office's door. The long corridor was dark and, thankfully, carpeted. With no serious firepower, he'd have to rely on stealth to make it out of this FUBAR'd mess. His playmates on the roof would be down any second, and the seven shots left in his gun were no match.   
A guard had apparently heard Gage's entrance and turned the corner at the far end of the hall. Gage took advantage of his hesitation and put a well-aimed laser between the two green-glowing circles of his eyes. He cautiously walked over and searched the corpse, keeping his ears pricked for any noise. The assault rifle, an extra mag, and the night vision goggles were added to his inventory. An improvement, but still not enough to go guns blazing.   
Through the green haze of his newly-acquired goggles, Gage made his way to the emergency stairwell, which was as dark as the corridor. The silence pushed and pulled at his nerves, augmenting the sound of his breathing to sound like a hurricane and his footsteps to sound like gunshots. He almost wished he actually could hear the sound of a squad of troops running for him. But his rooftop foes were good. They weren't grunts. They knew there was only one way out, and they had all the time in the world to wait.   
The trip down over twenty stories of stairs was long, but Gage didn't waver. He took each step as if navigating a minefield, trying to sound as soft as possible on the metal grate, the trigger of the rifle pulled half back. When he was finally greeted with a large "L" on the concrete wall, he glided over to the door and listened for any noise. Dead silence was his only answer.   
After a short debate with himself on whether to kick the door open or open it slowly, Gage opted to keep discreetness up as long as possible. As he slowly turned the knob and opened the old metal door, the first thing that greeted him was blinding light. The lobby was apparently still lit, and Gage tore off his goggles.   
The second thing was a barrage of gunfire that perforated the flimsy door, sending it lopsided on one hinge. Gage was still seeing spots from the flash of light and fell to the side, a string of curses muted by the rifle fire. He regained himself and risked a peek into the bright lobby to get an idea of the layout.   
It was impressive, as far as office lobbies go. The front wall was all glass, with a row of double-doors leading to the street. Marble seemed to be the main material for the rest of the huge room. Symmetric staircases began on either side of the reception desk and curved around to meet on a high platform with a row of elevators. Gage saw the stairwell door was right next to the elevators, and soldiers were spotted all around the room. He was right; they were no normal foot soldiers. The black uniforms were of the Venom Special Forces.   
Another volley forced Gage to duck back in. There was no way he could take them all. Each one would be an equal fight for him, and there were at least twenty out there. Time for his partner's entrance.   
"McCloud, you there? I have a little problem."   
"Yeah, I'm here. You at the lobby?"   
"Close enough," Gage mumbled, firing a blind burst to keep the soldiers at bay. "Where the hell are you?"   
"Close. Get ready to run. You'll know when you see it."   
Hoping this particular idea didn't end up like the destroyed Blue Marine, Gage heard shouting from the lobby, followed by footsteps and more shouting. A low rumbling found its way over the noise to dominate Gage's ears and shake the floor.   
Curiosity getting the better of him, Gage peeked out just in time to see a large metallic vehicle speed through the glass front of the building with an enormous crash and come skidding to a halt in a hail of broken shards. He recognized the vehicle immediately; he had seen it in the news during the war. The Landmaster. It seemed that Fox had a good idea for once.   
A green glow swirled around the tank's long barrel before an energy blast decimated the left stairwell with a deafening explosion, sending debris and three of the soldiers flying. The remaining soldiers ran for cover as another charged blast vaporized the large reception desk in an explosion of wood splinters. The tank held center stage; Gage was forgotten for the moment.   
Before the soldiers had a chance to recover, Gage took a deep breath and sprinted across the marble floor, dodging lasers like raindrops. He vaulted over the edge of the top level and landed hard amongst the remains of the shattered reception desk. Two of the soldiers saw him and fired down on him from the top, but another blast from the tank silenced them.   
Gage recovered and ran for the tank when a sharp pain echoed through his left leg, causing him to stumble. He managed to keep going and clambered up the side of the tank as the behemoth let fly with another shot that blew a crater in the hard marble wall. Gage was able to locate the hatch and pulled it open, causing the pilot to whirl in his seat, blaster in-hand.   
"Oh, it's you," Fox said, letting out his breath and turning back to the controls. "'bout time."   
"I see we have to get buddy-buddy again," Gage said, noticing that the cockpit was even smaller than the sub's.   
"Well, I can leave you here and go look for a bigger one."   
Gage mumbled as he worked his way in the best he could. A final shot was loosed, then Fox backed out of the lobby and began rumbling down the seemingly deserted street. "Any holes anywhere?" he asked when they were clear.   
"Got clipped in the leg, I think, nothing serious."   
"Lucky."   
"Skill."   
"Whatever."   
As Gage's heart rate slowed and the adrenaline rush diminished, his mind found its way back to the reason they were there in the first place. The rhythmic rumbling of the tank treads seemed an ominous background music for his thoughts, a steady, heavy, sad tempo that drove home the gravity of the situation. Fox seemed to sense this and didn't probe.   
As the Great Fox descended on them from the black sky, Gage's mind raced with questions. But a single one stood out from the rest, a more important one, like a flame in his mind over a field of snow. He didn't want to think about it, but he had to. He had to because sooner or later, the question would become a decision.   
Could he possibly kill his own brother? And if he couldn't…would he let Fox? The question loomed over him like the countless stars in the sky, and the answer seemed equally out of reach. But the answer was there, and the means to find it was still tucked securely in Gage's thigh holster. One way or another, there was going to be only one Birse left at the end of the week.   
  


_-Chapter 9 coming soon!-_   



	10. Stolen Fate

**[**Author's note: Thank you to all who responded to the update, and for your encouragement. It's still in the licensing department's hands, waiting on edge for a response. Intil then,   
though, I'm going to finish the trilogy, and here's Chapter 9. Look for the conclusion to the trilogy soon! As always, thanks for reading. Foxmerc]   
CHAPTER 9   
Stolen Fate   
_The next morning_   
_Great Fox, recreation room_   
_0927 hours_   
  
  


It was the training. It had to be.   
The morning after his party-crashing on Macbeth, Gage acted as if nothing happened, though he had a slightly deeper squint, a darker countenance. Fox expected him to brood, to stay in the guest room and refuse to talk to anyone. He grimly remembered the few days following Vixy's death, climaxed with him almost eating a bullet by his own hand. No doubt that Falco, sitting across from him at the rec room table, also remembered helping a certain intoxicated fox back to his room. A certain "drunk off his ass" fox was how Falco put it.   
But the captain didn't seem drunk or suicidal as he strode purposefully into the room, took a seat at the head of the table, and tossed his laser microphone onto the table. The confused mercenaries stopped their discussion of how to handle Gage if he snapped and stared at him, as if waiting for a second head to grow.   
Gage returned the stare and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "What? Come on, play it. Let's see if we got what we went for."   
"You ok?" Fox asked, reaching for the device.   
Gage nodded, but Fox noticed a hard swallow before he did. That's when he decided it had to be the training. They're taught not to have emotions, just to do their job. Fox never had that training. In this case, though, he was almost thankful for Gage's lack of feeling, even if it wasn't one-hundred percent gone. Their time-frame for finding Overlord was growing thin, according to Ike, and the last thing they needed was Gage breaking down.   
Figuring he should count his limited blessings and not push it, Fox plugged the microphone into the wall viewscreen audio input and set it to playback. Immediately a burst of static filled the room followed by the bantering voices of the officers. Fox took his seat and leaned back.   
"—on schedule! My men are losing morale with all this inactivity."   
"Overlord IS on schedule, General, as the commander said. Are you questioning his word?"   
"I'm not questioning anything, I'm just saying that the men need a victory."   
"Well, maybe YOU would like to attack Corneria with the forces we have? We don't stand a chance!"   
Fox glanced over at Gage as Ike spoke his first words, but noticed no change from the stone expression. The calm voice of the traitor held just as much authority and sureness as the night before, and Fox was amazed. It reminded him of Wolf O'Donnell's style, but it had something else. Wolf seemed to do what he did out of pure hatred, which didn't exactly harbor a slow temper. Ike knew what he was doing and was in complete control.   
"A frontal attack will not be necessary anytime soon. Overlord is on schedule, I assure you all, and there will be a demonstration next week. For this, I highly recommend that none of you remain in this city. It's going to get a little hot…Overlord is our key to success. With it, nothing can stop us."   
"Now, if there are no other questions about Overlord, we can move on. To close this topic, General Harlan, you are to have two squads of your best engineers report to Rogara Outpost no later then Thursday. We'll need them to help with Overlord's little surprise. Is that clear?"   
"Yes, Sir."   
"Alright, now—"   
The speech cut off abruptly as a loud thud echoed through the room, followed by gunshots and shattered glass. Then the audio feed cut off altogether.   
Gage leaned back in his chair, his poker face still on, and shrugged. "That last bit's new to me also. I wasn't exactly paying attention right before I slipped."   
"Good thing you kept it on," Fox replied, flicking the microphone off. "Alright, so now we know where Overlord is being built. We also know we have six days to find it and throw a wrench in the works."   
"Great, so what are waiting for?" Falco asked, half rising from his seat.   
"It's not that easy," Gage replied softly, his calm voice disturbingly similar to his brother's. He slowly rocked in the chair and stared straight ahead as he spoke. "Fox will side with me on this one. If there's one rule about weapons, it's that the next version will always be superior to the original. Even if we do find it, it'll be bigger, more armed, more protected, and more impossible to get into. Not to mention the numerous civilians being used as labor who are bound to be there. Not to mention this 'surprise' that Ike was talking about. Not to mention that crazy bodyguard he has. Do I have to go on?"   
Falco was stubborn for sure, but even he saw the sense in avoiding Gage's impressive list of hazards and took his seat again, folding his arms. Fox also wasn't too eager to meet the cheetah again and hated to think that the rest of Gage's speech was one-hundred percent true. Suddenly, his infiltration of the first Overlord seemed in the same league as walking to the corner store.   
"So what's our next move?" Fox asked out loud, more to himself than his partners.   
"First we call General Pepper," Gage replied, his empty gaze still fixed on the blank white wall across the room. "Then we pay Stefan another visit, to see if he knows anything about this surprise, or that cheetah."   
Fox grimaced at the thought of another pleasant chat with Stefan, but he didn't object. His qualms for seeing Stefan didn't seem so bad when put up against Gage's current conflict, so he decided to suck it up for one last time. Falco didn't care either way; he knew he would be staying back to watch the ship again.   
Fox unplugged the microphone from the viewscreen and punched in Pepper's number. After one ring, the general answered.   
"Ah, McCloud, I was just about to call you."   
"Oh?"   
"Yes," Pepper continued, glancing at a piece of paper on his desk then looking at Fox in a slanted manner that StarFox had dubbed the 'trouble look.' Once again, the theory was proven right. "I received a report this morning from the Macbeth City police. They say there was heavy gunfire in an office building, and then a _tank_ drove down the street and crashed through the building. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"   
The last sentence wasn't a question, but more of an explanation demand. Fox figured the general would forgive him once he heard what they discovered, so he told the entire story of the night before. Pepper listened with rapt attention while Gage sat and continued his staring contest with the table.   
"It was Ike…" Pepper breathed with surprise when Fox concluded. "Are you absolutely sure?"   
Fox nodded towards the sullen figure of Gage and raised his eyebrows. Pepper nodded in understanding. If there was any prayer, any hope that Gage could cling to that would make it all false, he would've done it.   
"Agreed," Pepper said after clearing his throat. "Go see what else Chuzie knows. While you do that, I'll scramble whatever forces we have in the Venom area and try to get Macbeth City evacuated, though I don't see that happening without much chaos."   
"You're the general, General," Fox replied, reaching for the screen. "We'll be in touch."   
Pepper nodded and Fox cut the connection.   
  


* * *   
  


_Later that day_   
_Corneria City_   
_1417 hours_   
  


Fox could barely remember the last time he had gone to Corneria City for a reason other than visiting his personal demon or breaking into an army headquarters. He used to love visiting the city on weekend leave from the Academy, or with his parents for shopping or such. Those were the days when he could take a second to stop and look around, to appreciate the little things in life.   
That all went up in flames along with his mother's car.   
Now, standing and waiting for Gage outside a huge metal bunker-like building and watching the bustle of city life, Fox longed for those days. Ever since he put on the mask of the mercenary, every day could've been a fight for his life or the life of someone close to him. Most fights he won…and some he lost. Thinking back to Vixy made Fox realize that his last real good time in the city was with her, when they went for groceries for the Great Fox and stopped for dinner…his last expression of carefree love with the victim of his most trying loss.   
Fox's daydream was cut off at the sound of the heavy metal door slamming behind him. Gage navigated the flowing stream of pedestrians and joined Fox by the curb, shaking his head. Fox noticed his partner was receiving quick glances from the passing civilians because of his uniform; the urge to daydream of his Academy days, when he was the recipient of those glances, was suppressed as Gage spoke.   
"He's not here. According to the guy in the prison, he had a meeting with his lawyer to seal the death-row pardon. He should be back any minute."   
Fox nodded. The entire process with Stefan had gone smoothly; he had been transferred to the lower-security prison in the city the day after their meeting. It made Fox bitter, made him feel like he was the loser in their vendetta. But he supposed, in a terrible way, it worked out for the best. After all, Stefan had probably played a very significant role in saving millions of lives. Without his information, Fox and Gage would still be in the dark.   
Gage sighed and gazed up at the skyscrapers. "I used to live a few blocks from here, in an apartment above a corner store. Every day, the store owner would give me and Ike a free donut on our way to school. Great guy…"   
"Seen him since you left?" Fox asked, mostly to keep conversation as a distraction from his own thoughts.   
"He's dead," Gage replied bluntly. "I was in school when the first attack came. Complete chaos, people running everywhere, fighters in the sky, tanks on the ground. The building across the street collapsed onto the store…with my mother in the apartment. Took them weeks to dig through the debris."   
"The building across the street just collapsed?"   
"No, it was pushed over, by some kind of big red machine. Tank treads, drills or something for arms. It was already to the next block when I got home. I got there just in time to see it destroyed…by one of your team. Well, an Arwing anyway."   
Fox nodded. He remembered the metal beasts, powerful enough to knock over a building. "Too little, too late."   
"Yeah…" Gage's voice trailed off as he continued his gaze.   
After a few minutes, Fox glanced over and saw that Gage's eyes had the same distant look as they had back on the ship. They were the eyes of a virtuous man torn apart by a personal evil. Fox never had siblings, but his teammates were as close as you could get without being of the same blood…and he could never imagine having to fight against one of them, turned traitor. The strong, stubborn, vigorous Gage that Fox had the pleasure of meeting in the headquarters cafeteria was all but gone, worn out by the pressure and torment of his situation. It all seemed too familiar…   
That's when Fox remembered the note.   
It was the only thing that kept him going months before, the only thing that gave him new life and the strength to finish the feud with Stefan. As his hand closed around the folded piece of paper in his pocket, Fox muttered the words he had expressed to Peppy and Vixy in his time of torment, his time of what Gage was feeling now.   
"Am I doing the right thing?"   
Gage's head snapped up and he looked at Fox sideways. "What?"   
"That's what you're thinking isn't it?"   
Gage nodded and faced front again. "Obviously, the right thing is to stop him from using the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, but…but…"   
"But he's your brother."   
Gage nodded again and stayed silent.   
"I know I can't really speak from experience, as far as brothers go," Fox continued. "But I do know this. The fact that he's your brother changes nothing. He's still a dangerous madman. Hell, he even tried to kill you, and he'll do it again. You said it yourself; the Ike that was your brother is dead. Here."   
Fox grabbed Gage's wrist and slapped the note into his hand. "Read it when we get back to the ship. It pointed me in the right direction, and it might do the same for you."   
Gage looked at the yellowed folded paper in his palm, shrugged, and pocketed it. "Ok."   
After another minute of silence, Fox opened his mouth to ask what time it was but was interrupted as Gage pointed at the intersection a hundred yards away. An armored truck was stopped at the light.   
"Looks like your friend's almost here."   
Fox shook his head and sighed. "Hope you're up to talking again, 'cause I'm not in the mood to deal with this bastard. How did—"   
His words were cut off as the front of the truck erupted in a deafening explosion and the entire vehicle was lifted in the air on a pillar of fire. It crashed back down on its side among the fleeing civilians.   
Fox gaped at the site while Gage cursed and sprinted for the burning wreckage. Through the thick smoke, they could see pedestrians running from the fire, abandoning their cars and stumbling, wide-eyed, towards the sidewalks. But there was one who didn't, one who went towards the truck…a cheetah in dark clothes, holding a blaster.   
"Fox! It's him! It's the cheetah!"   
Fox squinted through the smoke at Gage's call and saw that he was right. The same cheetah that had almost done him the favor of ventilating his head was calmly walking towards the truck. Fox ran and caught up with Gage as he neared the debris. Without missing a beat, Charon flung the rear door open and fired three times inside.   
"Drop it!" Gage shouted, his blaster trained on Charon's head. Fox halted next to him and followed suit.   
Charon faced them, seeming not the least bit surprised to see them. He pointed his gun at the back of the truck and spoke his first words to the duo. "You wouldn't have gotten any more information out of him anyway. He was just a pawn."   
"And what are you?" Fox growled.   
"A prisoner," Charon replied, his angry red eyes seeming to glow again. "But a useful one. I have my own reasons for doing what I do, and it's none of your concern."   
"I think Overlord is a slight concern for us."   
"Then do us all a favor." Charon pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at Gage's feet. "Kill the commander."   
"What?" Gage said, cocking an eyebrow. "Why do you want him dead?"   
"I told you, my own reasons." Charon snapped his head to the side as police sirens began wailing down the street. "And I can't do it myself; he's watching me too closely."   
"Wait!" Fox shouted as the cheetah turned his back on them, "Then why did you try to kill me? Two more inches down, and…"   
Charon half-turned with a humorless grin and said simply, "If I wanted to kill you, I would have."   
In the next instant, he had vanished into the frantic crowd.   


**_-Chapter 10 coming soon!-_**   



	11. Endgame

[Author's Note: Well, I WAS done on Sunday with this segment, but inspiration hit and I thought I could meld this with the next segment. It turned out to be too big, so this alone is Chapter 10. Well, at least the final segment is half-done, so very soon until the conclusion! -Foxmerc-]   
  
  


CHAPTER 10   
Endgame   
_Later that day_   
_Great Fox, armory_   
_1407 hours_   
  
  


After what seemed like an eternity clearing things up with the Corneria City Police, Fox and Gage kicked back in the Great Fox, taking turns telling a part of the story to Falco. The avian, having missed the action yet again, simply listened with his arms folded and a scowl on his beak.   
"So Stefan's dead," he muttered when all was said. "You don't seem too happy about it, hotshot."   
"Yeah, well, I wanted to be the one to do it," Fox muttered angrily back. On the ride back to the ship, after the initial rush had faded, Fox realized that he was actually angry that Stefan was dead. He wished the bastard was alive…so he could kill him again, himself.   
Gage rolled his eyes and said, "Fox, he's dead, let it go. It doesn't matter who killed him. We have slightly more pressing issues."   
Fox nodded. He'd been able to keep it somewhat out of his mind for a year, what's a few more days? There'll be plenty of time to think later."Should we take a look at that disk?"   
"Might as well," Gage said, taking the small disk that Charon threw to him out of his pocket. He tossed it to Fox, who stuck it in the wall's viewscreen. Within seconds, a grid popped up on the screen, with two blinking red dots spaced a few inches apart.   
"What're they supposed to be?" Fox wondered aloud, but the screen answered before his teammates could. It flashed to a 3D map of barren, sandy terrain, with a small complex of a few warehouses in the middle. After a minute, it panned over to show a cargo train on a track heading off into the desert, towards the other red dot. It then flashed again and showed a larger complex with numerous buildings and guard towers, all encircled in a huge metal wall. A train track led directly into the complex. Below the picture in bright white lettering were the words _"Rogara Outpost"_.   
"I get it," Gage said, leaning back in his chair as the map recording looped back to the beginning. "It's a supply depot. It's standard Venom procedure, I've seen it before."   
"What is?" Fox asked.   
"Well, since Venom isn't the most hospitable planet, they keep the supplies in depots instead of in the outposts themselves. That way, one depot can supply numerous outposts around it. It cuts costs down, too."   
"But if that depot's destroyed, all those outposts suffer."   
"Right. But since the Venom military hasn't exactly been financially stable for a while, they're taking their chances. The cost of building Overlord must be sapping whatever funds they have dry."   
"So what's Charon saying?" Falco said with a shrug. "That we should destroy the depot? Halt production?"   
"I don't think so," Gage continued. "Overlord's already built if they're striking so soon. I think he wants us to hijack the train."   
Fox slowly nodded, running the plausibility of the plan in his head. "We still don't know how big Overlord is, or its defenses. It's not on the map, of course, they wouldn't show it. But chances are they have every soldier and weapon they can get guarding it. It's their last chance. So if we somehow get on the train, we can cruise right in, past the defenses."   
Gage and Falco nodded and the captain spoke up. "That's a cute plan, but we're forgetting that a small army of soldiers will be waiting for us, with Charon for dessert. I don't care if he gave us this information or not, I don't trust him. It could be a trap for all we know. We can't do this one by ourselves, guys, I say we call General Pepper, see when the cavalry's coming, and go in with them."   
"Fine with me," Falco grumbled. "You'd probably leave me back again anyway."   
"It's 'cause you're dependable," Fox said with a grin as he punched in the general's number, receiving a scoff from his friend.   
On the first ring, the general's face appeared, set with the lines and shadows that have come to mean only one thing…bad news. "What?!" he answered irritably.   
"Are you ok?" Fox asked, already knowing the answer.   
"McCloud," Pepper said with a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid I have some really bad news."   
"You don't say."   
"Venom must've anticipated this since we discovered their plans. A few hours ago, just about every base we have beyond Katina was attacked. Small forces, not enough to capture any bases, but enough to surprise us and wipe out any chance of making an effective attack on Overlord. It was a smart move, unfortunately. We don't have enough time to get there."   
Silence fell over the room as the three teammates stared slack-jawed at the screen.   
"What are you saying, Sir?" Gage asked finally. "There's no hope of an attack on Overlord?"   
"I'm afraid not," Pepper replied glumly. "We're evacuating Macbeth City as we speak, but there's no way we can everyone out in time, especially with the chaos going on there."   
"What do you mean? How many people are left?"   
Pepper swallowed hard and said gravely, "Estimated death toll is no less than one-hundred-thousand…and that's if this Overlord's capability is no more than the first's."   
All for naught. Everything the team had done up until that point had been in vain. The horrible pangs of defeat welled up inside Fox, and he didn't like it at all. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do?"   
Pepper scoffed. "Not unless you feel like going after it yourselves. We'll have enough forces mustered in that area for an attack next week, but no sooner. We—"   
"Sir," Gage interrupted. "Can you get my team up here?"   
Pepper cocked an eyebrow. "I suppose; they're still here in the base. Captain, don't even think about it. I don't want to lose another Dagger to another Overlord."   
"Let them make that make that decision, Sir."   
Pepper leaned back and thought for a minute, then said, "Alright, I'll tell them what you want, but I'm not ordering anybody to do this. If they agree, I'll have them up there by tonight."   
"Thank you, Sir," Gage replied as the connection was cut.   
  


* * *   
  


Fox spent the rest of the day cursing his luck and taking it out on the paper targets in the shooting range. Falco soon joined him and the inevitable competition ensued, topped off by Falco's inevitable grumbling after he lost. Fox thought about asking Gage to a match, but realized the captain could probably mop the floor with him. Besides, he had been holed up in the armory all day drawing out a plan, refusing help from the two StarFox members.   
The plan was apparently completed around 6:00 PM, but Gage didn't want to show it until Dagger arrived…if they arrived. All through a light dinner, Gage tapped his foot and looked towards the door, as if waiting for an important package in the mail.   
"So what changed your mind?" Fox finally asked when Gage looked at the door for the twentieth time in as many seconds.   
"Hm?"   
"You seem almost eager to go pay Overlord a visit now."   
Gage nodded grimly and took a sip of water. "Just been thinking a bit. I was in there working on the plan, and I remembered that note you gave me." He took the aforementioned note out of his pocket and tossed it to Fox. "She was a great girl."   
Fox grinned and pocketed the sacred note. "Well, that's an improvement from your first opinion of her."   
Gage blushed slightly as he remembered that day in the cafeteria. "Yeah, well…sorry about that."   
"Forgotten."   
"So I was just thinking about what you said in the city today and all. Fate just played me a bad hand, but it's my hand and I have to make the best of it. My traitor brother weighed against a hundred-thousand lives is no competition."   
"I just hope you don't lose that way of thinking when you confront him."   
"Don't worry," Gage muttered darkly. "Like I said, Ike's already dead."   
Fox opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by ROB's monotonous tone on the intercom.   
"Cornerian Army shuttle requesting permission to dock. Leader identifies himself as Lieutenant Forte."   
Gage grinned and stood. "See? I knew they'd show."   
"Sure you did," Fox replied, then spoke in his comm. to ROB. "ROB, contact Falco and tell him to meet us in the hangar."   
"Yes, Sir."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


As the three teammates walked through the door to the huge, cold hangar they were greeted by an army shuttle docked next to the Arwings. Seven soldiers clad in army fatigues mulled around the hangar. Two were tossing black bags from the shuttle's cargo hold, another two were running their hands along the nearest Arwing and talking to each other, and the other three were looking around the cavernous hangar. Finally, they saw Gage and waved. The captain waved back and jogged over, Fox and Falco following slowly behind.   
Gage shook hands with a gray wolf that Fox remembered as Forte. The wolf said something with a grave expression, no doubt offering his condolences for the situation with Ike. Gage said something while shaking his head and hooked his thumb over his shoulder at Fox, which earned a sideways glance from Forte. The captain then looked back and waved Fox and Falco over.   
"I got your back," Falco whispered as they walked over.   
"Falco, we've had enough run-ins with Dagger," Fox said with a grin. "Besides, they're Special Forces; they'd break us in half without even losing breath."   
Falco scoffed as they approached the shuttle. By this time, all seven members of the team were huddled around Gage and looking at Fox. Fortunately, this time Gage spoke first.   
"Dagger, you all recognize Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi. Fox, Falco, this is my second-in-command Lieutenant Forte."   
Gage continued down the line of soldiers, first being Private First Class Tailor, the sniper, a beagle with a long scar on his muzzle where grenade shrapnel got too close for comfort. Next was Corporal Penick, a huge, muscular bear that Fox guessed was heavy support before Gage said it. After him, towered by the huge bear, was the only female member of Dagger, Private Beaudoin. The pretty fennec was the scout, as evident by her slim frame, but Fox had no doubt that she could hold her own up close.   
Following her were two youngish-looking soldiers, Privates Rho and Rhiain, raccoon and coyote, respectively. They couldn't have been more than twenty-five, by Fox's judgement, but the two scars on Rho's head were proof enough that they'd seen their share of combat. Finishing off the line was Corporal Tien, a husky, the team's medic and demolitions man. Fox made a mental note to stay away from him in combat; he never liked being by a guy with explosives.   
"How're things going up here, boss?" Forte asked, shooting a glance at Fox and Falco.   
"Fine up until recent events. I assume you all know why you're here, and you didn't have to come. So thank you."   
"Hey, we're a team. It was bad enough you had to come up here alone, we wouldn't let you take on Overlord alone."   
"Especially with him," muttered Beaudoin, her pretty face an expression of scorn. "Let's see if this Overlord can be destroyed without losing the team this time."   
Fox opened his mouth to protest, but, to his surprise and the surprise of Dagger, Gage beat him to it.   
"Hey," Gage snapped, his eyes drilling into the fennec's. "You'd be short a captain right now if it wasn't for him. Yes, we are a team, and he's part of it. I was wrong with what I said before, and I ask you all to show him the same respect you would show me. Alright?"   
"Uh…yes, Sir." The surprised Private said, confused (along with everyone else) at the captain's change of heart. Fox just stood beside Gage, blushing slightly.   
"Ok. McCloud will show you to where you'll sleep tonight, and we'll have a briefing in the armory at 2130. Fox?"   
Fox nodded as Gage left and turned to the team. Small talk didn't seem to be their interest, and Fox didn't know what to say anyway. He was about to tell them to follow him when the Wolf, Forte, spoke up.   
"Is that true? Did you save the captain's life?"   
Fox had been trying to think of what Gage was talking about since he said it, and he finally remembered. In Macbeth City, he had caught him in the Arwing when he was dangling from the rappel rope. Then he pushed him out of the way of Charon's lasers when he was dazed. Then he bowled through the lobby in the Landmaster to pick him up. He saved his life three times, but in the tension of the battle, he didn't even have time to think of that.   
"Yeah," Fox replied finally. "But I couldn't have done any of this without him, so it all evens out."   
"Don't be so modest," Forte said with a grin…an actual showing of good faith. "It takes a lot to change that guy's perspective."   
"I'm just glad I finally did."   
"Well, you're alright by me," the wolf said, giving Fox a pat on the shoulder. "Now, enough mushy crap, let's get moving."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


It turned out that, including Slippy and Peppy's vacant rooms, there were just enough beds for all ten of them. After throwing down their olive-drab bags, the team was invited to explore the ship and help themselves to whatever was left in the galley. As they went their separate ways, Fox found himself in a conversation with Rho and Beaudoin in the recreation room. The three sat at the sofas and talked while they waited for 9:30 to roll around.   
"What kind of pistol do you use?" Rho asked, eyeing Fox's holster.   
"SVR 93 Mark 2," Fox replied, taking it out and handing it to the raccoon. "Just got it in a couple months ago, less clunky than my old one."   
"Really? Same one I use." Rho thoroughly checked out the pistol and handed it back. "Doesn't look too clean."   
Fox grinned as he reholstered the gun. "I had to use it recently, and cleaning it hasn't been top on my priority list since then."   
Rho nodded and Fox glanced over at Beaudoin. She was resting her head on her hand and staring out the thick window into the infinite space. It was odd to see such a seemingly fragile, pretty girl in an army uniform as part of Corneria's top Special Forces team. Fox realized he was staring and tore his gaze away as Beaudoin sighed lightly and noticed him.   
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, straightening in her seat. "Did you say something?"   
"Oh, no, Miss uh…I mean…I'm sorry, I'm too used to first names."   
The vixen laughed and said, "It's Khestra, if that's easier. Very smooth way to get my name, you want my number while you're at it?"   
Rho laughed as Fox sputtered denial that those were his intentions. Khestra held her hands up and said through a fit of giggles, "Just teasing you, Fox, it's ok."   
Fox could feel his face burning, but laughed also. "It's been awhile since I was accustomed to female teasing."   
"Well, I'm not looking for a guy, so don't worry. This job's murder on relationships."   
"Tell me about it."   
Before they could delve deeper into the finer points of job stress, the intercom buzzed with Gage's voice.   
"—it on? Am I doing it right? Oh, ok….ahem…Attention, everyone report to the armory for the briefing, I repeat, everyone to the armory for the briefing…ok, how do I turn it off? Same button?"   
The trio laughed and stood. As they headed out the door of the recreation room to the armory, Khestra tapped Fox on the shoulder and pointed to a square patch of white carpet on the ground, significantly lighter than the rest.   
"What happened there? Get careless with a beer or something?"   
Fox glanced at the carpet and quickly looked away. The scene still played out in his eyes every time he looked at the spot. Two shadows still clutched each other on the ground, clinging desperately to each other, trying to make their last moments together last forever. Two shadows still declared their love, a love they knew they would never share in the physical world. Two shadows were still torn apart by the approaching inevitable.   
"Yeah," Fox finally replied. "I got careless with something."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


The only light in the dim armory came from the glowing panels behind the racks of instruments of warfare and the large viewscreen on the far wall. The tension in the room hung as heavy as the darkness itself, the gravity of the situation they were about to face weighing on each soldier at the sight of the outpost on the screen. Fear was a luxury none of them could afford, and they shut it off in a way only years of training could provide. However, the two mercenaries did not have the benefit of that training and Fox's rapid foot-tapping echoed through the room like a frantic metronome.   
Gage stood by the screen and quickly counted heads to make sure they were all there. Satisfied with the result, he shuffled a few papers, cleared his throat, and began his briefing.   
"First of all, thank you all again for coming. I've, uh…I've discovered a few things since we last spoke, and I feel the need to inform you now. From new information I uncovered, it looks like this is going to be a lot harder than I first thought. I'm going to be perfectly straight with you…I've never seen outnumbering statistics this large. If Macbeth City was not in direct danger, I wouldn't even think of going with this mission. The chances of a scratch-free completion are next to nothing. This said, if any man…or woman…wants no further part in this, now's the chance to speak up. I'll understand."   
Fox glanced around and saw that all seven Dagger soldiers were staring straight back at their captain, not even bothering to see if anyone would leave. They knew no one would, they knew they had each others' backs to the end. It was a special bond only received in combat that made men closer than brothers. With a curt nod, Gage continued.   
"Alright, let's get down to the dirt then. On the screen, you see a top-down view of Rogara Outpost, seemingly a small, nondescript base on Venom. However, what you don't see is a two-by-one structure that has just finished completion, lying just outside the base."   
"Sir," Tailor jumped in. "What do you mean two-by-one?"   
"Miles," Gage replied gravely. "Two-by-one miles. The law of weapons of mass destruction is proven again; this one is bigger and badder than the first. But that doesn't matter if we don't let it fire. The bigger they are, the harder they fall." This earned scattered nods around the room.   
"Now here's the plan. Falco, you're on pilot duty. Set down here," Gage pointed off in the desert a few kilometers west of the outpost. "And drop off the team, minus Fox and myself. Forte, you're in command. You all hold here until you see the signal."   
"What signal?" Forte asked.   
"That's where Fox and I come in." He pointed to the east end of the base, where the train tracks led into the assumed storage building. "Off to the east, there is a small, lightly guarded supply depot. Fox and I will infiltrate this depot and hijack the train that makes its daily run into Rogara. We cut the brakes, uncouple the last car, and let the rest run into the base. When it blows, that's your signal. The distraction should draw away most guards from the west side."   
Gage pointed to a tall guard towers just inside the west gate. "Tailor, I want you up in this tower to cover the assault team's infiltration and exfiltration. Chances are some soldiers will mosey on back, and it's a long haul to Overlord, so pick them off as you see them. The assault team will make their way from the west gate to the north gate, where the only known entrance to Overlord is. Once inside, your job is to find the main control room. If they wizened up, there won't be any self-destruct, so your objective is to destroy the consoles that control the launch. That will at least buy us a few days so General Pepper can mass a proper attack. With that completed, move out to the extraction point outside the west gate, where Falco will pick you up. Any questions?"   
"Rules of engagement?" Penick asked.   
"Open season on Venom troops, fire at will. Watch your fire, though, there are still civilians there. Anything else?"   
Rhiain spoke up. "Sir, what are you and McCloud going to be doing during all this."   
Gage hesitated then looked straight at Fox. "We're going to move in after the assault team and eliminate the commanding officer…Ike."   
"Just you two?"   
"Yes…that is, if Fox agrees to accompany me."   
All eyes turned to Fox at this, but he knew Gage's motivation behind this. They were the two people that Ike hurt the most. The traitor was behind Fox's framing, which led to Vixy's death. All this time, is anger had been directed towards only half of the enemy: Stefan. Now it was time to put it to rest once and for all. He nodded at Gage.   
"Alright, that's all," Gage concluded. "Gentlemen, and ladies, the success of this mission will depend much upon your instincts and a lot of luck. This is very sparse information, but it's the best we can get. I believe in your abilities, and I believe we can do this. We haven't failed a single mission yet, so let's not break the record. Ok?"   
He received enthusiastic whoops from his team and more sweat from the two mercenaries. Even Falco didn't have any quip or false bravado for the moment. Fox looked around the room and knew it in his gut that not all of them would be alive in day's time, if any at all. And they probably knew it too, but that didn't stop them. They had countless lives in their hands, and they accepted that responsibility when they signed up, even if it meant their own deaths. Fox couldn't remember ever feeling more respect for anyone than he did at that moment, and it was a better feeling to know that he had the strength to be a part of it.   
"Alright," Gage said. "Get some rest. We move out at 1800 hours tomorrow."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


"No! Please, don't!"   
Searing pain ripped through Fox's arm as the blade tore his flesh. His blood splattered across the stone wall of the dim torture room, joining the lost life of the numerous victims before him. The cut soaked his shirt and fur in dark crimson, the excess dripping to form a puddle around his shackled feet. Wolf looked on in pleasure, though Fox didn't know how that was possible: Wolf's own face was covered in blood from a singed hole where his good eye used to be.   
The blade made a few more passes, each one adding to the macabre blood mosaic on the wall, each one earning a scream of pain from the disheveled fox. Wolf's scornful voice could be heard echoing in the room, mocking Fox's pitiful situation.   
"You can't win, McCloud. What do you think you're doing? Saving the galaxy again? Ha! This is beyond you…this is beyond anyone."   
Fox bowed his head, gasping for air, feeling himself slowly float into unconsciousness. He closed his eyes, and half-hoped it would be for the last time.   
But then it was all gone. His next breath was a reward of clean, cool air as fresh as a spring day back home. His pain was gone as suddenly as it had been inflicted, and a brilliant light filled the room. His shackles had disappeared, and Fox stood straight, brought back to life with renewed vigor and strength, gazing into the heavenly light where Wolf had stood moments before.   
A figure slowly emerged from the brilliance, the very person that Fox made synonymous with joy and salvation: Vicenzia Hohleran. The gray vixen, bathed in an aura of golden rays, smiled at Fox and held out her hand. Fox gently took it, so afraid she might vanish the second they touched, and gazed at the smile that had made everything alright back in life. Vixy rested her other hand on Fox's and gently squeezed in reassurance.   
"Fox," she spoke softly, her words like notes of the most endearing hymn. "Only you control your fate. Nothing is beyond you."   
"Vixy," Fox whispered shakily, tears flowing freely down his muzzle. "But I…I couldn't save you. You're dead because of me. If I hadn't dragged you into this…"   
"Oh, Fox," Vixy sighed, pulling Fox closer. "If you hadn't pulled me into this, I never would have been truly happy. What's a full life worth if it is devoid of love?"   
Fox just stared back at her. Since her death, Fox had countless thoughts of things he wished he could say to her again. But they all could be summed up in two sentences.   
"I miss you so much," Fox choked out, hugging her gently. "I love you."   
Vixy hugged him back, enveloping him in the warmth and serenity of her presence. "I've never left you, Fox. And I never will leave you." She kissed him gently on the muzzle and took a step back. "Now go, with my love and with my blessing. You can succeed, Fox. I know you can."   
Fox reached for her, but she had stepped back into the light, and with a blinding flash, she was gone.   


Fox awoke, but not to the startling fright after a nightmare; it was as if being gently stirred by a soft kiss. He sat up in his dark room and looked around, trying to get his bearings. The dream had been so real, so lucid…he could still feel Vixy's touch and hear her reassuring words. Absently, he reached up and felt his muzzle. The fur under his eyes was still wet from the tears.   
With a heavy sigh, Fox fell back on the bed and wiped his eyes dry. It was a wonder he had gotten to sleep at all with the anxiousness of the mission crawling around inside his gut. The more he thought about it, the more impossible it all seemed. His only reassurance was that he thought the same way the first time he infiltrated the metal behemoth, and it turned out alright.   
Could that have sparked the dream, his worry about the mission? Certainly the part about Wolf, but what about Vixy? So far every dream he's had about Vixy since her death were tormenting scenes of sadness. But this one…it wasn't even like a dream…it was like seeing her again for real.   
An overwhelming calmness flowed through Fox's veins as he remembered her words. _"If you hadn't pulled me into this, I never would have been truly happy."_ Could it be he had been given a last chance to make his peace with Vixy's death, at the time he needed it the most?   
With this thought in his head, Fox drifted back into sleep, Vixy's words echoing as clear as they had moments before.   
_"I've never left you, Fox. And I never will leave you."_   
_ "Nothing is beyond you…"_   
  
  


**_ -Conclusion coming soon!-_**   



	12. Final Clash

[Author's Note: See Afterword for all my final words. This is the largest update, a little over 30 pages in Word...whew. As Always, thanks for reading and enjoy! Foxmerc]   


**THE FINAL CLASH**   
_The following evening_   
_Unnamed supply depot, Venom_   
_1842 hours_   
  
  


The sun slowly retreated under the horizon, painting the sky a deep red with yellow and orange highlights. There was still plenty of light left to see the four storage buildings that consisted of the depot, the train track nestled in the middle and stretching on into the sunset. As the image on the disk has suggested, it was built on the edge of an oasis, which stretched the length of the depot with trees and a lake. Fortunately, it also stood between the depot and the dune where Fox and Gage laid, scanning the area.   
"There's some pretty dense foliage in the middle," Gage said, peering intently through binoculars. "I think we can make it to the trees without being seen. Not a whole lot of guards…the only ones I see are grunts…probably piss their pants at the sight of us."   
"If we don't do something, I'm gonna piss my pants," Fox replied, wiping sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of the black specops jumpsuit Gage had lent him. He didn't know how the soldiers could stand always wearing the suit weighed down with all the gear.   
"I didn't know you were so eager to tempt death again."   
"Well, we're going in anyway, why drag it out?"   
"Agreed," Gage said, stowing the binoculars back in his vest. He grabbed his rifle from the sand and flicked the safety off after checking the magazine. Fox did the same and was about to stand when he felt his partner's hand on his shoulder.   
"Hey," Gage said, his game face on. "Things are about to get really ugly. This is our last quiet moment for a long time…or, it might get really quiet soon. Just remember; keep moving, make your shots count, and shout when you need cover. I want you standing next to me when this is all over."   
"So do I. You watch yourself also."   
"Listen…if we confront Ike, and I freeze, promise me you'll—"   
"Don't worry," Fox finished, hefting up his rifle and standing. "Let's just concentrate on getting there.   
Gage nodded. "Alright. Let's move."   
The duo waited until the treeline appeared inactive, then they sprinted across the hundred yards of open desert. The cool shadows of the trees greeted them at the end, and they cautiously crept forward in a half crouch, rifles shouldered and ready. Through the dense, almost jungle-like landscape, they could see the outline of the storage building nearest to them.   
Heart pounding, Fox glanced over at Gage to see where to go, and he noticed something. He squinted and saw a small red dot working its way up Gage's chest. Knowing that only one thing followed a laser dot, Fox shouted for Gage to hit the dirt. Fortunately, the captain's training paid off and he didn't stop to ask questions.   
A laser scorched the space that Gage's head had occupied moments before. Fox tracked it and fired a burst into the tree he thought it came from. A Venom soldier fell to the sand and lay still, the sniper rifle discharging again as it hit the ground clenched in the corpse's hand.   
Then, as they knew would happen but prayed not to see, all hell broke loose.   
Gage recovered himself as the air filled with the deafening sound of numerous rifles. Lasers kicked up sand at their feet and splintered the thin trees they used as cover. Fox risked a peek and saw no less than ten soldiers on the far side of the narrow oasis. But Gage was right; they were amateurs, taking wild shots and not even bothering with cover.   
Fox, staying well behind the tree, took careful aim and dropped the nearest soldier. As he swiveled to take a bead on another, he saw that his partner had been doing his part of the housecleaning and had taken down three.   
"Reloading!" Gage shouted, which was the signal to provide covering fire. Fox did so, taking down two more, then yelled the same. As he slapped in a fresh mag, ears ringing and sweating like he was in a sauna, he saw that more soldiers had arrived to replace their fallen comrades. So much for 'lightly defended.' Apparently, Gage had the same thought.   
"They're coming out of fuckin' thin air!" the captain growled, firing full auto into the approaching soldiers. "We have to move!"   
"Where?!"   
"Forward!"   
Fox glanced again at the seemingly solid wall of lasers and sighed. Gage was right, of course, if they stayed there they would eventually be overrun. And that was if they didn't get the bright idea to throw a…   
"Grenade!" Fox shouted, diving to the ground on the other side of the tree. The blast pounded his already-bruised eardrums and rained down a thick cloud of hot sand. Coughing and rubbing his eyes, he regained himself but saw that his tree was gone, toppled by the explosion. That seemed as good a sign as any to move forward. After giving a thumbs-up to Gage that he was alright, Fox tossed a grenade of his own, hunched over like a starting linebacker, and sprinted up the oasis.   
As shocking as it was to reach a new tree in one piece, it was downright startling to see that most of the enemy was retreating. They must've really scraped the bottom of the barrel for depot guards. But that was no reason to let his guard down; it doesn't take a professional to get a lucky shot.   
"Go!" Fox yelled over his shoulder, keeping a steady stream of fire on the soldiers. Gage passed him and took cover behind a tree further up, adding his own gunfire to the fray and giving Fox a forward wave.   
Using this leapfrog tactic, the duo pushed the remaining soldiers back to the warehouses, where they took cover behind the scattering of metal cargo crates. Fox peered out from the treeline and saw the train resting on the tracks. Some of the soldiers were yelling and frantically waving at a huge crane at the track's end, which held a crate in midair.   
"They're moving the train out soon," Fox said, panting as he ducked back behind the tree.   
"I know," Gage replied, hardly breathing faster at all. He was squinting at something in the depot. "What does that crate say, the one the crane's holding?"   
Fox also squinted and read the blocky white lettering on the crate. "'JPX-93, 16 Barrels.' That's jet propellant, fuel."   
"Those crates are all over the place. Why would they be sending all that to Overlord?"   
"For the fighters, I guess. That's a hell of a lot, though."   
Gage unclipped a grenade from his vest. "Well, I say we make another use for it."   
"Will a grenade penetrate the crate?"   
"No. But that crane will."   
Fox peered again and saw what Gage meant. Some bare red barrels marked with a crossed-out flame were stacked at the crane's base. "Can you throw that far?"   
"One way to find out. Give me some fire."   
Fox shouldered his rifle and fired at the few soldiers dumb enough to break cover. Gage hopped forward a few yards, wound up like a major league pitcher, and let fly with the grenade. A few seconds later, they were rewarded with a blast of heat and seared eyes from the explosion. The grenade did its job.   
The heavy groaning of twisting, deforming metal was soon followed by a loud crashing as the crane plunged to the ground and ripped apart the crates, spilling barrels and caustic jet propellant everywhere.   
"May I light the ceremonial cigar?" Fox asked casually as Gage dove back behind his mangled tree.   
"Be my guest."   
This time, all it took was one shot to set most of the depot aflame. The soldiers that weren't wiped out in the ensuing explosions ran for the far warehouse, the only one left unharmed. Fortunately, that was out of Fox and Gage's way.   
"The train's pulling away!" Gage shouted, scrambling to his feet. Fox looked over through the flames and saw it was true. "Come on!"   
The two foxes leapt from their cover and sprinted into the inferno. Soldiers from the last standing warehouse took shots at them, but they didn't bother returning fire. Cool air filled their lungs as they left the fire behind them and ran down the track after the rapidly retreating train. Gage got a grip on the railing and vaulted onto the rear car, then turned around to help his exhausted partner on.   
Fox collapsed to the metal ground, panting heavily, and watched the blazing depot become smaller and smaller in the background. "So," he gasped. "Was that your idea of light resistance?"   
"We're still alive, aren't we?"   
"Ask me that again in an hour, if you still can."   
Gage grinned and looked down the line of cars over the metal crates stacked on the flatbed. "Looks like it's all cargo until the engine. Should be clear sailing to there."   
Fox slowly got to his feet. "Why do I not feel any better when you say that?"   
  
  


* * *   
  
  
  


_Eight minutes later_   
_Rogara Outpost, south entrance_   
  
  


"Dagger Two, this is Dagger One. We are clear and the train is away. Stand by to begin your attack."   
Forte breathed a sigh of relief at hearing Gage's voice. After seeing a bright orange glow to the east, he had feared the worst. "Roger, One. Assault team ready to infiltrate."   
"Good luck. I'll see you all when this is over."   
"You too, Sir," Forte responded, his gut twisting slightly at the thought that that probably wasn't true. The wolf shook his head hard and turned to his team, which was crouched behind a dune a couple hundred yards outside the south gate. "It's a go everyone! Tailor, get up here!"   
The beagle climbed up the dune and lay next to the lieutenant, resting his sniper rifle on the soft sand. "Clear the gate, Sir?"   
"Yeah. As Soon as the train makes its acquaintance with the base, pick off any guards that remain behind. Give me the word when all's clear."   
"You got it."   
Tailor leaned on the dune, shifting his rifle into a comfortable position. The rifle itself had more scars than its owner, and had seen just as much action. It was a custom-made semi-automatic bullet-firing rifle with a scope that accounted for wind speed and distance, and Tailor was damn proud of it. He could shoot the trigger off a soldier's gun from a hundred yards, and no one on the team could honestly remember the last time he missed a target. The first phase of the mission was on Tailor's shoulders and there was no other shooter Forte would want more.   
The beagle peered through his scope, every muscle tensed, breathing nearly nonexistent. The only sound heard was a gentle breeze echoing in his ears and grains of sand whipping against his suit. The calm before the storm…   
Then the storm came in full torrent. The team heard the explosion and the nerve-grating sound of grinding metal before they saw the billows of flame rise above the outpost on the east side. As suspected, nearly all of the guards around the south entrance ran towards the wreckage, leaving only a handful to guard the gate. For Tailor, it was almost too easy.   
After making sure the others left, Tailor took a bead on the single shooter in the guard tower. With a kick in the shoulder and a smoking shell casing on the sand, the guard fell. He swiveled the rifle to the gate itself, where two guards stood, and put a bullet in each head before either could react. The bodies crumpled to the sand and Tailor scanned the gate for any other targets.   
"No hostiles in sight, Sir," Tailor reported after another minute of searching.   
"This is Dagger Two," Forte said into his comm. "South gate is cleared, assault team moving to the objective."   
"Roger, Two, good luck. We'll rendezvous at the extraction point when we're done."   
Forte waved in a forward motion at his team. "Dagger, move out!"   
The seven soldiers stood and ran towards the gate, keeping a tight formation, aware of every angle. The huge shape of Overlord loomed over them, larger than anything they've ever seen or have ever gone up against.   
"Look at the size of that thing," Rho breathed as they approached the gate.   
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Khestra replied, grasping to any optimism attainable in the situation.   
"Cut the talk," Forte ordered, peering through the gate. Seeing that all was still clear, he pointed to the access panel to the side. "Tien, do a bypass."   
The husky slung his rifle and reached for his electronics kit. After a minute of cutting and rerouting wires, the heavy gate slowly slid open with a loud grinding. The noise brought a few soldiers from the around the main building, but the team was ready for them. The combined fire nearly tore them apart.   
"Let's go!" Forte shouted. "Tailor, get up in the tower!"   
The sniper broke away from the group and climbed the tall guard tower as the assault team continued their trek across the compound to the monster that was Overlord. He unslung his rifle and did a quick scan of the area.   
"This is Four," he said, still peering through his scope. "Multiple targets sighted, most on the east end. Should I engage, Sir?"   
"Negative, Four, stand down. Don't let your presence known until we come out, we may need the cover."   
"Copy."   
The entrance to Overlord itself was just outside the west gate, the size of a normal garage door, but with a security system to match any in the galaxy. Corporal Tien immediately ran up to the control panel and fiddled with it.   
"I can do it, Sir," he said, taking his kit out again. "Just give me a few minutes."   
Forte nodded and shouldered his rifle, ready to shoot anyone that moved in the compound. After a few tense minutes, Tien let out a string of curses.   
"They've got a backup. This might take longer than I thought."   
Forte grimaced. "They're going to catch on sooner or later, go as fast as you can."   
Just as the husky got back to work, Forte was hit with another piece of bad news from Tailor, and his voice sounded urgent. "Sir, I have a visual of two fighters leaving Overlord and heading in this direction, probably to investigate the wreck. Are you almost inside?"   
"Shit," Forte grumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Negative, we're having a problem with the lock. How far away are they?"   
"Closing in now." The sound of distant engines becoming louder proved this to be true.   
"Tien—" Forte said sharply, anxiety gripping him.   
"I know."   
"I need that door open, now!"   
"I know!"   
The fighters thundered overhead, circling the wreckage and coming back for another pass. If they came back towards Overlord, they'd see the team…   
"Sir, I can distract them," Tailor said from the tower.   
"Negative, stand down!"   
It was no good. As one of the fighters circled around, Tailor took out his pistol and fired the entire clip at the fighter before it could see the team. It got the pilot's attention, and he circled around again…only this time, he headed for the tower.   
"Tailor, get out of the tower!" Rhiain shouted.   
"Sir, go! GO—"   
"Get out of—!"   
Forte was cut off as a missile streaked from the fighter's belly and collided with the tower, turning it into a plume of fire that rained down cement and metal.   
"Tailor!" Rhiain yelled, dropping his gun and sprinting for the gate while the rest of Dagger gaped at the remains of the tower. Forte grabbed him and held him back.   
"There's nothing you can do, stay back! He's dead!" Forte held on until the coyote stopped struggling and sank to his knees, shaking his head. He and Tailor had been good friends, drinking buddies, both first-draft recruits after the last Dagger team was wiped out. He knew this could happen on any mission, but that never prepared him for it.   
"Two, are you alright?" Gage's voice crackled in Forte's ear. "What was that explosion?"   
"Tailor's dead," the wolf replied, sad and curt. He was just as upset as anyone else on the team, but he also knew that they had no time to linger. Mourning could come later.   
"Dammit…" Gage breathed. The captain's pride never came from his kill count. His pride came from keeping his team alive. "Don't slow down, continue the mission."   
"Yes Sir."   
"Got it!" Tien shouted as a shower of sparks burst from the panel and the door slid open. As his team filed through the door, Forte glanced again at the clear sky. The fighter had finished confirming its kill and was again circling towards the team.   
"Hurry! In!" he shouted. Rhiain had regained himself and joined the team inside Overlord. When everyone was through, Forte punched the door's panel as the fighter began firing. The lasers bounced harmlessly off the closed door.   
The lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief and turned towards the long metallic corridor leading into the heart of the monster. Tailor's distraction had bought them the few precious seconds they needed, but it came at a high price. Forte would make sure his teammate's death was not in vain.   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


"Dammit…" Gage clenched his eyes shut and grimaced. "Don't slow down, continue the mission."   
Fox watched as the captain bowed his head for a few seconds then punched the sand. Fox himself was thankful every day that he had never lost a teammate. The one time Slippy went down on Titania was enough to cause him to be careful and not take them for granted. "I'm sorry, Gage."   
Gage shook his head and stood up. "Not now, we have a job to do. Are they still there?"   
Fox peeked around the outer wall through the broken gate. The burning remains of the train lay mangled with what used to be the storage bay, mangled metal and oil strewn everywhere in the sand. For one crazy moment, it made Fox think of a sand castle ruined by a heavy wave. "Most have gone back to the west side, probably because of the explosion. Only a few guards and a few laborers working on the wreck."   
He switched places with Gage so he could take a look. "Ok, we can't wait much longer, we're gonna have to risk it. Stick to the containers and we should be able to circle around to the west gate."   
Fox brought his rifle up and flattened against the wall while Gage continued looking into the compound, waiting for the right moment. As soon as the guards looked away, he waved forward and the duo crept through the busted gate and immediately took cover behind one of the many metal containers that were blown from the train. They repeated this, hopping from container to debris to anything else that could be used as cover. After a few tense minutes, they had the west gate in sight.   
"Look," Fox whispered, pointing to the smoldering remains of the south guard tower. A lone fighter was circling above it, as if waiting for its prey to show itself. Unfortunately, it was a good hundred yard run across completely open ground to Overlord's door.   
"Well," Gage sighed. "How do you like our options?"   
"I don't."   
Gage managed a weak grin and changed out the energy magazine on his rifle. "We can make it if we haul ass. Just wait until the fighter passes over the door and starts to circle."   
"Alright."   
Gage assumed his peeking position and kept an eye on the fighter. When it passed the door, he whispered a harsh "go!" and sprinted towards the door. They made it almost halfway before the fighter finished its loop and spotted them. It didn't take too kindly to their trespassing and bore down on them like a vulture on a carcass, lasers spewing forth like venom and boosters drowning out the sound of their heavy breathing with a deafening roar. Due to the surprise at seeing them, the pilot missed by a country mile and circled back angrily.   
"Keep going!" Gage gasped out, and Fox didn't need to be told twice. However, he could see that they weren't going to make it before the fighter had a chance to strike again. Instead he did the last thing Gage expected. He stopped.   
"I have an idea!" Fox shouted over the engine's roar. "Keep going!"   
Reluctantly, Gage continued running. Fox reached for a fragmentation grenade on his vest, but then changed his mind and snagged a flashbang, a non-lethal grenade used for clearing hostage-occupied rooms. While he never actually used one, he prayed it did what he thought…or else he was toast.   
The fighter began its dive, lasers chewing up the sand in front of Fox and steadily moving forward. At the last second, Fox flipped the pin on the flashbang, threw it as hard as he could straight up, and dove to the side out of the lasers' way.   
"Hope you can fly blind, motherfucker!"   
The grenade did its job. At the peak of its arc, right in front of the fighter's canopy, it exploded in a flash of blinding light and a sound loud enough to surpass the engines. The pilot, now blind as a bribed referee, jerked the aircraft erratically through the sky until it collided with the behemoth, Overlord. Fox breathed a sigh of relief as the burning wreckage fell to the sand.   
Gage jogged back and clapped Fox on the shoulder. "If there was a medal for unconventional weapon uses, you'd get it."   
Fox hunched over to catch his breath and said, "And if there was a medal for shitty plans, you'd get it. Yeah, let's just run, he won't see us."   
Gage grinned. "I didn't hear you speak up with any better ideas."   
Fox couldn't think of a retort, so he settled for flipping the captain off and motioning towards the door. "Shall we?"   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


Resistance came no more than two or three soldiers at a time, which was no problem for the elite team. A map to the massive structure was on the wall near the entrance, and Forte tried his best to commit the route to the control room to memory. He couldn't take the map with him unless he felt like ripping it out of the wall and dragging it along.   
Relief flooded him as he finally saw a sign on the wall pointing in the control room's direction. The door was around the corner at the end of the hall, and the only thing standing in their way was a duo of guards. Forte and Penick each dropped one before they could react. Tien ran ahead of the team and fiddled with the access panel. Fortunately, he had less difficulty than the outer door.   
The door slid open with a ding, revealing a huge room, the size of a normal movie theater. To complete the effect, the far wall was almost entirely a large screen, now displaying various coordinates, maps, and graphs. Numerous desks and countless computers decorated the floor. But there was something still worng with the picture…it was empty.   
Forte inched into the room, gun shouldered. His team followed, knights venturing into a dark cave, mindful not to wake the sleeping dragon. The only sounds heard were the gentle hum of the fluorescent lights and the random buzzes and clicks from the computers and processors. When they made it into the center of the room, Forte lowered his rifle and motioned to Tien.   
"Find a way to bring this bastard down. We'll keep you covered."   
The husky nodded and turned to the central console, immediately beginning to type. Forte motioned for the team to set up a perimeter and each member moved to form a half-moon around Tien. For the tense moments that followed, only the clacking of the keys filled the room.   
"I found something, Sir," Tien reported after a few minutes. Forte went over and listened. "It's weird though…this thing has ion thrusters on its bottom, hundreds of them."   
"Ion thrusters? Like the boosters on aerial fighters?"   
"Right. I don't know why they're there, but it's the perfect chain if we start an explosion here," he pointed at a blueprint on the screen, showing a room marked "Main Avionics-Technical" that was next to the hangar.   
"How far away is it?"   
"Another ten minute walk, further in."   
Forte nodded and turned to tell the team, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he was greeted with a scene that nearly stopped his heart. Wall panels near the ceiling on the three screen-less sides slid open, revealing another room overlooking the control center. Soldiers were crouched shoulder-to-shoulder the whole way around, surrounding them. Forte immediately dropped to one knee and shouldered his rifle, joining the rest of his team in wide-eyed fear.   
"Hold your fire!" he shouted, as much towards the Venom soldiers as his own.   
The tense standoff lasted only for a few seconds before another figure walked up to the ledge of the new room and looked down on Dagger. It was a red fox, clothed in the black and crimson Venom officer's uniform, his long black trench coat rustling lightly against the floor as he walked.   
"Regretfully, you'll never see that room," the fox said, a triumphant grin stretching across his muzzle. "Come now, did you really think I didn't know you were coming? Did you forget you're going up against one of your own?"   
Forte growled and glared menacingly at the traitor. "Ike..."   
"Correct. And you're Lieutenant Forte, second in command of Dagger. I still remember you, trying out for the team every other month, and never making it. I see all it took was the team's annihilation to get you in finally."   
Forte grimaced but said nothing back. Ike nodded and continued casually, as if talking sports on a coffee break. "So where's our fearless leader today, my pawn of a brother?"   
The lieutenant hesitated slightly, then said, "He's dead. He got shot on the way in."   
Ike chuckled and shook his head. "Don't play around with me, Lieutenant. A train just happens to plow into the outpost, conveniently timed for when you break in? I know Dagger's way of operating, and I know Gage. No matter, he won't get any further than you did. Your little bravado ends here. Throw down your weapons."   
Forte stood his ground, glaring right back at the captain. He knew that if they surrendered, Macbeth City would be wiped from the galaxy, and other cities would suffer the same fate. Shivering slightly, he managed to say back, "I can't do that."   
The triumphant grin drooped slightly. "You're not being smart here, Lieutenant. You're severely outnumbered and covered from the high ground. Do not condemn yourself and your team to death." Ike glanced around at the team and his eyes came to rest on Khestra. In an instant, a pistol was in his hand and pointed directly at the scout's head. The vixen trembled, breathing hard, her eyes wide. "You wouldn't want me to decorate the wall with her pretty little brains, now would you?"   
Forte's mind raced, trying to think of any shred of a plan that could get them out of this meat grinder. Glancing around, he remembered the panels that slid open. If only there was a way to close them…   
"Tien," Forte whispered, pointing his gun at angle so Ike couldn't see his mouth move. "Can you close those panels from that console?"   
After a few seconds, the corporals strained voice replied, "I think so. It would take a minute."   
"What's your decision?" Ike asked, not the least bit impatient, savoring the moment. "Surrender or death?"   
Taking a deep breath and running a quick prayer through his mind, Forte glared back. "Death…your death."   
The wolf fired a single shot at Ike, but he winced at the last second…the laser only glanced Ike's shoulder, searing the cloth of the uniform. Ike stumbled back, surprised, and the proverbial powder keg exploded. There wasn't a single gun in the room that wasn't firing.   
"Take cover!" Forte shouted to his team. Each member shuffled backwards, never stopping their stream of fire on the balconies, and crouched behind the numerous desks. Tien heaved a desk over for cover then started typing quickly at the console.   
"Hold them off!" the corporal shouted over the noise. "I'll have them closed in a few seconds!"   
Lasers chewed through the concrete and metal of the desks and floor. All Forte could see were flashes of red flying in every direction, a literal rain of death from above. He returned fire as best he could, but the constant pressure kept pushing him back to cover. He could see that his teammates were having similar problems.   
"Sir, we can't keep this up!" Rho shouted from a few yards away. He stood to fire a few bursts, then started to crouch back down. "How long—"   
He never made it back behind cover. A laser took him in the shoulder, and he stumbled backwards with a yelp of pain. Before anyone had the chance to pull him down, three more lasers lanced through his chest. The raccoon, a shocked, blank look on his face, fell backwards without a sound and lay still.   
"Tien!" Forte shouted, his anger boiling over.   
"Almost!"   
The battle raged on, and the fallen soldiers overhead were being replaced as quickly as they died. The fight could go on forever…or at least until the entire team was dead. Forte planned on getting them out before that happened.   
"Got it!"   
The team stood down as the panels once again slid and covered the balconies back up. Not wasting a moment, Penick ran over to Rho's body and felt for a pulse. Seconds later, he sadly shook his head.   
"Come on," Forte motioned for the team to move. He quickly checked himself for injuries and found his tail only slightly singed. "They'll be down here any minute."   
Dagger moved to the door they entered from and started down the corridor. Tien was still typing away at the console after a few more seconds he announced, "I did an override on the security locks. All doors are now unlocked, including that avionics one."   
"Alright, good job, now come on, hurry."   
Tien turned and started for the door, pleased at his work. Before he was halfway across the room, the door at the other end of the room slid open and soldiers poured in like water. Tien snapped his head around, his expression of mild triumph melting into a mask of shock and fear. He barely had time to get his rifle up before a volley of lasers struck him in the head and torso.   
"Tien!" Forte shouted, but he knew it was hopeless. The husky crumpled to the ground, a pool of blood rapidly spreading across the floor.   
"Sir!" Rhiain shouted from behind him, his rifle fire providing the exclamation point. He was firing around the corner. "We have more over here!"   
Through a string of curses, Forte shut the door and fired into the access panel, hoping that would lock it. He then spoke into his comm. "Sir, we found a way to bring her down. Are you near the hangar?"   
After a few seconds, Gage's voice responded, "Affirmative, we're right outside it. Where are you?"   
"We're cut off next to the control room, suffering heavy casualties. There's an avionics room next to the hangar. Tien said that if we start an explosion there, it will bring down Overlord. I don't think we can make it there."   
"Alright, pull out to the extraction point. Good work."   
"Roger." Forte looked up and saw that his team had stopped firing.   
"All clear," Rhiain said, breathing heavily. "For a second there, I—"   
The coyote was cut off as a laser hit him in the leg, splattering the wall he was leaning against with blood. He cried out as his knees buckled and he hunched over. Forte's heart leapt to his throat as he realized that Rhiain was still in the shooter's view, and he started to run forward, knowing it was too late. But someone else was thinking the same way.   
Khestra sprinted forward, her speed and agility that earned her the scout's position showing. She leapt forward and shoved Rhiain out of the way as three more lasers darted down the hall. Forte breathed a sigh of relief, but stopped as he realized that the vixen was writhing and moaning on the ground next to Rhiain, clutching her stomach. One of the lasers had found a target.   
Penick quickly dispensed of the enemy soldiers and Forte ran over to where Rhiain was kneeling over Khestra, cursing and wiping blood away. "How bad is it?" he asked when he saw Forte.   
"How the fuck should I know, I'm no doctor." Forte replied heatedly, pissed that he might lose another member.   
"It looks like it only hit her side. It missed the vital organs." Rhiain unsheathed his knife and cut both sleeves off his suit, then wrapped them tightly around Khestra's abdomen "It will have to do for now. Can you walk?"   
Khestra grimaced as she sat up, but kept on going until she stood, with Rhiain's help. "I'll make it, Sir."   
Forte called for Penick. "Here, help her. I'll help Rhiain."   
"I'm fine, Sir," Rhiain protested, though his left leg was almost soaked with blood, even with the cloth strip he hastily tied around it.   
"Not with that leg, you're limping worse than my grandfather. Come on."   
The four remaining Dagger members hobbled back through the maze of corridors. No more enemy soldiers showed themselves until they neared the exit. Then Forte understood why. An announcement blared over an intercom.   
"Attention all personnel! Attention all personnel! Man your stations and prepare for liftoff! I repeat, all personnel man your stations and prepare for liftoff!"   
"Liftoff?" Penick asked out loud. "What the hell does that mean?"   
"Doesn't matter," Gage replied, continuing towards the door. "The captain probably did something."   
The heavy door slid open and the team was greeted by a blast of hot air and a far more pleasant scene than the horde of guards they expected: the fighter that Gage feared would still be lying in wait lay burning in the sand. He didn't care how, but it was out of the way. The compound appeared clear of soldiers.   
"We made it," Rhiain said in a near whisper, almost in a surprised way. After that shootout in the control room, Forte himself was surprised anyone made it out.   
"Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


"Alright, pull out to the extraction point. Good work."   
"So that's why it's been so quiet," Fox said. "They all went for the assault team."   
Gage continued to study the map on the wall until he located the avionics room Forte was talking about. It was only a few turns away, spitting distance. "Well, let's get this done while it's still quiet. Come on."   
It was no surprise that no resistance was met on the way to the avionics room. After the standoff at the supply depot, neither Fox nor Gage was looking for much more action. Unfortunately, it came looking for them.   
As they neared the hangar, Gage heard angry voices from down the hall and around the corner. He motioned frantically for Fox to back up and they dove around the corner as the voices neared. Gage peeked around in time to see Ike round the corner, accompanied by at least five soldiers.   
"Nobody gets through, understood? If anyone other than me approaches the avionics room, shoot him."   
"Yes, Sir," the soldiers replied in a staggered unison.   
"I'm going to my office to make final preparations."   
With a sweep of his long coat, Ike turned and walked back down to a door at the end of the hall, and went through. Gage ducked back as the five soldiers turned in his direction, then walked down the hallway towards the avionics room. Ike…   
Gage looked at Fox behind him with a questioning expression. The mercenary looked back, knowing full well what the captain wanted to do. They were only feet away from the target, but…finally, Fox shook his head and sighed. "Alright, let's go get him."   
After the sound of footsteps had receded into the distance, Gage cautiously rounded the corner, Fox on his tail, and headed to the door his brother went through. It was unmarked, but locked with an access card panel.   
Fox crouched down to study the panel and see if it could be shot open, but he saw what looked like tiny writing scratched into it and squinted.   
"Hey, look," he whispered to Gage, who crouched next to him. "Someone scratched words into the metal."   
"What's it say?"   
Fox squinted closer. "It looks like 'behind you, ext.' or something."   
Gage looked at the wall opposite the door and walked over. "Could it mean this? The fire extinguisher?" He groped behind the red cylinder, a puzzled look on his face, and pulled a security card out that was taped to it. With a shrug, he inserted into the door and it slid open with a pleasant ding, revealing a small platform elevator.   
"Did someone from Dagger do it?" Fox asked.   
"They never got this far," Gage replied with another shrug. "Charon maybe?"   
Fox was thinking the same thing. The cheetah provided them with the depot's location, and it didn't turn out to be a trap, though it was a close call. Fox wasn't completely sure whose side Charon was on, but he wasn't ready to trust him yet. Only God knew what would be waiting for them up the elevator. "Guess we'll find out. Let's go."   
The duo boarded the small platform and it shot upwards, stopping with a sudden halt after a few seconds. They found themselves in a short corridor with only one jet-black door at the end. Gage took a deep breath and turned to his partner. "You ready?"   
"Ready as I'll ever be. You?"   
"Yeah," he replied in a near whisper, and it didn't take a detective to see he was nowhere near comfortable with it.   
Fox dropped to one knee in front of the door and shouldered his rifle while Gage slid the card into the reader on the wall. The black metal parted and slid into the walls, revealing a large, dimly lit room that's motif was the same as the door: black metal. The only light came from a huge window at the far end, behind a black metal desk that was one of the room's only furnishings. Fox and Gage slowly moved onto the black marble floor, squinting through the darkness, and stopped short as they saw two figures standing behind the desk, one with his back to them, staring out the window.   
"I was wondering if you'd find your way here, Gage," Ike's voice echoed in the room. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw that it was Ike with his back to them and Charon standing off to the side, his arms folded.   
"It's over, Ike," Gage managed in a near whisper. "I don't want to have to kill you."   
"Oh, it's far from over," Ike replied, spinning around to face them. "It's only just begun. Overlord's birth will mark the dawn of my rise to power. It's a shame you didn't want to accompany me in that power. Now, it is I who am forced to kill you."   
Gage's expression hardened and he pulled the trigger on his rifle. But all that was produced was a loud whir, the sound power draining. He fired again, but with the same result. Fox tried to fire but had no better luck, and Ike began to chuckle.   
"All this black isn't for decoration. The walls and ceiling are energy dampeners, rendering all energy weapons useless. You don't think I'm dumb enough to let you stroll in here armed, do you?"   
"Ike…"   
"Forget it, Gage. It's too late, there's nothing you can do to stop Overlord. You have no idea of its capabilities. You think this is just a copy of that child's toy that was destroyed a year ago?"   
"I heard you mention a surprise," Gage said, thinking back to his acrobat stunt off the Macbeth City building's roof. "What is it?"   
"Awww, and take away all the fun of discovery? It won't matter to you in a few minutes. I've wasted enough time talking. I'm sorry it had to end like this, Gage, but you just couldn't break away from being the government's tool. Charon, kill them." With a wave of hand, Ike strode off through a door next to the large window and it slid shut behind him.   
The tenseness hung as heavy as the darkness in the room. Charon unfolded his arms and slowly walked towards the duo, his red eyes glaring at each of them in turn. Fox and Gage dropped their rifles and took a few steps back.   
"What the hell do we do now?" Fox whispered.   
"Fight him. Two of us, one of him."   
"Yeah, but he equals like five of us."   
"You have a better idea?"   
As usual, he didn't. The cheetah raised his hands in a fighting stance and beckoned them. Fox and Gage hunched into their own fighting stances and went opposite ways, trying to get a position to attack from both sides. For a few heavy seconds, no one moved, each contemplating his next action. Finally, Gage charged.   
Charon ducked the captain's first two punches then countered with a lightning-quick blow to the muzzle that sent Gage staggering back. Fox attempted to hit from behind, sure he would have enough time, but Charon's foot came up equally as quick as his fist and kicked Fox back, knocking the wind out of him. With a quick spin, Charon followed up with a roundhouse kick that made Fox spin almost completely around in the air before he crashed to the ground with a cut above his eye.   
Gage recovered and attacked again. He managed to duck a kick from the cheetah, but didn't see the elbow until it slammed into his face. Another hard punch sent him stumbling back again. Shaking his head quickly, Gage tried for another punch, but Charon easily blocked it. This time, however, he held on and pulled Gage close so they were almost muzzle-to-muzzle.   
"He's watching us," Charon whispered quickly, his muzzle barely moving. "Keep fighting."   
He shoved the confused fox back and gave him a hard kick to the stomach. Fox made another effort from behind and managed to land a good punch that returned the favor of a bloody face, cutting Charon's lip. The cheetah recovered quickly, grabbed Fox by his vest, and threw him over the desk. He spun around in time to see Gage's fist and ducked it, then grabbing his arm while he was off balance and gripping him in a choke hold.   
"Just do what I say and we all get out of here," he whispered into Gage's ear again. The captain nodded curtly then shoved his elbow into Charon's gut. While he was off balance and doubled over, Gage spun around and brought his knee up into Charon's face, knocking him flat on his back. Charon whipped his leg around and tripped Gage, then rolled over on top of him and grasped his throat tightly.   
"There's a knife in my boot," Charon whispered through clenched teeth. "Take it and stab me."   
Gage couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he didn't have many options while lying on the ground being strangled.   
"Do it!" Charon whispered loudly.   
The captain groped at the cheetah's ankle until he felt the handle of a knife. He pulled it out and plunged it hard into Charon's chest. But something was wrong…no blood was drawn, and he thought he could feel the blade retracting into the handle. Nonetheless, Charon's eyes went wide and he rolled off Gage, gasping and clutching the knife. With a weak staggering he tried to get up, but fell flat on his face and lay still.   
Gulping for air, Gage slowly stood up and looked down at Charon. It was a brilliant plan…fake his own death with a retractable knife. As long as he was out of the way, Gage didn't care what happened to him.   
Fox shuffled around from behind the desk, leaning on it for support and slowly massaging his head. "He'd dead? You got him?"   
"Yeah," Gage said simply. He didn't want to explain in case Ike was still listening in. "You ok? He threw you around like a rag doll."   
Fox scoffed and winced as he ran his hand over the cut by his eye. "Hey, I landed a good punch. Besides, you—"   
Fox was cut off as an automated female voice announced over the intercom, "Attention all personnel! Attention all personnel! Man your stations and prepare for liftoff! I repeat, all personnel man your stations and prepare for liftoff!"   
Gage cocked an eyebrow. "What the—"   
"Of course!" Fox interrupted. "It all makes sense! The 'surprise', why it wouldn't need relay towers, the jet fuel at the depot, the avionics room…don't you see? This thing can fly! It's a spaceship!"   
Gage's jaw dropped. "What?! But that fighter crashing into it barely even dented the armor! If this thing goes airborne, all the fighters in the galaxy wouldn't be able to bring it down."   
"I think that's the point."   
Gage ran for the rifles and tossed one to Fox. "We gotta stop it, get to the avionics room and blow it. I'll meet you there and we can hijack a ship in the hangar to get out."   
"Where the hell are you going?" Fox asked as Gage headed for the door by the window, though he already knew the answer.   
"To stop my brother."   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


Charon slowly lifted his head and looked around. The foxes had finally seen what was going on and went their separate ways. McCloud might make it to the avionics room, but with the way Birse fought, he didn't stand a chance against the commander. No matter, he used them only to get the commander out of the way. The only task remaining was to get his father and get the hell out of there.   
He stood and tossed the retractable knife to the ground, then wiped the cut on his lip. It was an impressive blow from McCloud, but he wouldn't have been any trouble to finish off. Charon took his real knife from inside his coat and slid it into his boot sheath, then headed for the elevator.   
As he neared it, a low rumbling shook the floor. They were starting to take off. Charon looked back out the commander's window and saw that this was true as the ground slowly began to sink under the pane. He suddenly remembered what Birse had said… 'If this thing goes airborne, all the fighters in the galaxy wouldn't be able to bring it down.'   
Charon shook his head and turned back towards the elevator. No, this wasn't his fight. The only reason he was there was for his father. Nothing else.   
But what about this weapon? It'll become the largest power in the galaxy. Even if he did get out, he wouldn't be safe anywhere and the commander would win. And all those people…   
"Since when did you start caring about the people," Charon asked himself angrily out loud. But there was no denying it. He knew in his heart that it was the right thing to do. It's what his father would do. Birse didn't stand a chance, and he could've killed Charon when he feigned death.   
"Fuck," Charon muttered, frustrated, as he turned and headed back to the office's side door. Figures…just when you have the chance to walk away, your conscience shows itself.   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


A metal staircase awaited behind the side door, heading up. Gage took the stairs two at a time to a brightly lit room halfway up. It was a small room with a few monitors and consoles, one of which displayed the office. Charon wasn't lying. However, Ike was nowhere to be seen…only one direction he could've gone.   
Gage continued up the stairs for what seemed like an eternity, nearly losing his balance and falling when the ship started to take off. At the top was a metal door, open a crack. Gage readied his rifle, kicked it open, and stepped through.   
The first thing that hit him was bright sunlight in his eyes. He was on the roof of Overlord, on a square landing pad no more than a hundred feet in each direction. The second thing that hit him was Ike's fist, from the left side of the door where he lay in wait. Gage, shocked, dropped his rifle before Ike grabbed him by the vest and shoved him into the center of the pad.   
Gage hopped up and drew his pistol, aiming at his brother as he approached from the doorway, apparently unarmed. Ike simply chuckled and strode up as if on a casual Sunday stroll.   
"So you beat Charon. I knew that poor bastard wasn't all he was cracked up to be. Well, in any case, welcome to my private landing pad. I knew you'd follow me here. This is where it ends Gage. You can put the gun down, it's still useless. I covered me entire escape route." Ike hooked his thumb over his shoulder to point out two black panels, like those in the office, on the ground by the door. Gage gave it a try anyway then tossed away the useless gun.   
Before the captain could say anything, Ike reached inside his jacket, pulled out a gun, and fired once at his brother. Gage felt searing pain in his left shoulder and he fell on his back with a cry. Clutching at his bleeding shoulder, he looked up to see Ike slowly walk over until he was hovering right above him. The older fox was holding up an old-fashioned silver bullet-firing pistol.   
"These, on the other hand, work perfectly fine. A bit outdated, but they get the job done." Ike leveled the gun and aimed it down at Gage's head, a humorless grin again forming on his muzzle. "I was always better, Gage."   
Gage clenched his eyes shut and awaited his death. He winced as he heard a low thump, and his eyes shot open as he realized he hadn't been shot. Ike still stood above him, but a look of shock had replaced his triumphant grin. He stumbled backwards slightly, dropping the gun, and looked down. The bloodied point of a knife protruded just below his rib cage and his uniform darkened even more from the leaking blood.   
With a pained moan, Gage lurched forward and grabbed the dropped gun. Ike slowly looked back up, blood dripping from the side of his muzzle, and saw his brother shakily aiming the gun at him.   
"Gage…" he wheezed out weakly.   
Eight sharp cracks echoed in Gage's ears as he fired the entire clip into Ike's chest. Through the smoke of the gun, he watched his brother fall back like a felled tree. Charon stood in the doorway, a look of satisfaction replacing his trademark stony face. With a quick nod to Gage, he spun around and disappeared in the darkness of the staircase.   
"Wait! Charon!" Gage gasped out. But he was gone. With another groan of pain, Gage stood up and looked down at his brother…probably the first person he ever killed who was more than just the enemy, more than just another face. But he had been tainted. The Ike that Gage knew and loved had died a year before. Ike the Venom commander had just died by his hand, and he had saved countless lives by doing the job. A night at the officer's club bar would dull the other thoughts if that one didn't.   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


Fox ever so slowly looked around the corner at the avionics room's door and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of only one guard. The others probably had somewhere else to be for the launch, but Fox didn't care as long as they weren't there. It was only a simple matter of popping out and firing a burst at the guard to clear the way.   
Stepping over the corpse, Fox opened the metal door and was greeted by a few rows of computer terminals with three large blue pulsing generators at the back. Countless pipes and tubes stretched from the generators into the walls and ceiling, and no doubt under the floor. They must be what Gage meant, what they had to destroy.   
Fox unclipped the four remaining grenades on his vest and took a deep breath…no turning back now. Once he blew those generators, they didn't have all day to get off. But it didn't matter. If they didn't blow it, countless civilians would be vaporized. After a bit of fumbling, Fox managed to pull all four pins and heaved the grenades at the blue objects.   
The explosion threw Fox back through the door against the corridor wall. Immediately red flashers and emergency sirens started sounding from all over the base. Fox regained himself as another automated voice sounded over the intercom warning the station that there was critical engine failure and to abandon the base. That plan sounded perfectly acceptable to Fox, but there was one problem…he was short a teammate.   
After contemplating whether to wait for him or go look, Fox decided he better find Gage. After all, he went after Ike, and that might not be going along so smoothly. Fox snatched up his rifle and ran to the elevator, then into the office. Erratic explosions rocked the floor and started to cause Overlord to yaw slightly for a few seconds, then right itself.   
Fox ran into the office just as Gage came stumbling in from the side door. It didn't take Fox long to see that there was something wrong.   
"Gage!" he called out, running over to him. "What happened?"   
"My shoulder," Gage grunted. "Shot."   
"What about Ike?"   
"Dead."   
After applying a makeshift bandage to his wound, Fox took Gage's good arm over his shoulders and helped him up. As they turned back to the front door, Fox noticed that Charon's body wasn't there. When he asked, Gage said curtly that he'd explain later and to move his ass. It was the first good idea Gage had all day and Fox followed it.   
While Fox helped the injured captain to the hangar, the sirens and intercom messages kept on wailing, and the string of explosions continued to shake the structure. Gage was losing blood fast, and growing continually weaker. He had to get back to the dropship where there were at least medical kits. Finally, as the hangar door came into view, Fox started whispering encouragement.   
"Come on, there it is, just a little more. Don't give out on me now! Come on, we're almost there, we're almost there, we're…fucked."   
Fox finished his sentence as the door slid open and the huge hangar, at least half a mile long, came into view. From the first fighter station all the way to the small square of light so far away that was the exit, not a single stationary ship could be seen. The last of the transports and fighters were zooming down the tunnel and out into the desert sky.   
Gage chuckled bitterly as he let go of Fox's grip and sunk against the wall. "Looks like we're going down with the ship, partner."   
Fox's heart sank as he looked around frantically. "I'll be damned if I die on this piece of shit. There's gotta be a way…" He ran further into the hangar and continued his search as more explosions rocked the ship. The only vehicles left were ground transports lined against the walls, which wouldn't do much good at this altitude. Pilots' parachutes hung on the walls by the fighter stations, but they could never make it to the exit in time. Finally, as Fox turned back, it clicked. It was a long shot, but this whole mission had been from the start.   
Fox roughly pulled Gage to his feet and helped him to the nearest pilot station. He tossed him a parachute and started putting one on himself. "Put that on, hurry."   
"Are you crazy? We'll never make it down there!"   
"Just shut up and do it!"   
Gage shrugged, wincing at the motion, and put on the parachute. After another hard shake nearly toppled them both, Fox grabbed Gage again and they hurried to one of the trucks parked in a tight line against the other wall.   
Fox climbed in the driver's seat while Gage clambered into the passenger's side and, after a minute of searching, they finally found the key in an ammo box behind them. Fox started the truck, pulled out halfway, and told Gage to open his door, doing the same to his own. With a puzzled look on his face, Gage complied.   
The truck jolted into reverse and slammed against the back wall, the two open doors being ripped off by the two neighboring parked trucks. Fox put it into drive again and pulled out onto the hangar floor. With a quick turn, Fox put the pedal to the floor and the truck sped down the metal hangar. The walls turned into a blur around them as the square of light grew larger. The explosions became more and more intense, a few of them ripping clear through the floor and walls, spewing twisted metal and fire. Fox fought to control the vehicle.   
"Get ready!" he yelled as the end of the hangar rapidly approached the clear blue sky. "Jump as soon as we go off!"   
Gage nodded and braced himself against the doorframe. The foxes held their breath as the truck left the ground and plunged towards the sand far below. The sounds of the crumbling Overlord were replaced with the deafening roar of wind rushing through their ears. They pulled their strings and were jerked to a sow descent as the parachutes unfurled and caught the wind, Gage cursing at the pressure on his shoulder.   
After a few more seconds of the almost peaceful ride, Fox saw a small ball of flame erupt on the sand near the outpost where the truck met the ground. He could also see a handful of tiny figures standing by the dropship Falco flew in. Dagger had made it…but Fox could see that there were too few to be everyone.   
"Look at that!" Gage called out to him, almost in awe. Fox craned his neck and saw the amazingly huge structure of Overlord start to yaw again to the left, countless explosions slowly tearing it apart. After another minute and nearly half the hull destroyed, the behemoth collided with the ground in a breathtaking torrent of fire and sand, the rest of the ship exploding or going up in flames.   
A wave of satisfaction swept over Fox at the sight. They had won. They had beaten the odds and ended the threat of Overlord once and for all, wiping out the Venom military commander in the process. Fox grinned as he thought about how he was going to tell this story to Peppy and Slippy, and how pissed they'd be that they missed it. And then…he was long overdue for a vacation himself.   
  
  


**EPILOGUE**   
_Six days later_   
_Corneria Armed Forces Cemetery, outside Corneria City_   
_1307 hours_   
__   
  


A light drizzle gently fell from the sky, it's collision with the ground and gravestones providing a peaceful background drum cadence as "Taps" was played. Gage held his hand firm in a salute along with the other military members present at the memorial service. The remaining Dagger soldiers were present, Rhiain on a crutch and Beaudoin still with a bandage around her abdomen, along with friends from the base, family of the deceased, and the entire StarFox team.   
Harlan Rho, the energetic raccoon always picked on for being the youngest in the team. He had a great sense of humor though and took it all well, sometimes rebounding with a comeback of his own. Even on his first mission, it was clear he knew what he was doing and could hold his own. He was so excited to be a part of Dagger and worked extra hard to do his best. Gage wondered if he would do it all again if he knew this would happen.   
Tabari Tien, a native of Macbeth who joined the Allied forces during the war when he was only eighteen. After doing extremely well on the placement exams, he was transferred to demolitions where he discovered his knack as an explosives/technical expert. The high officers had been keeping an eye on his progress and recommended him to Dagger after a few successful operations. Since Dagger was just getting on its feet again, they decided to have him learn the medic trade also until they could find a permanent one. As it turned out, he excelled so well in that too that they didn't need one.   
Alec Tailor was a homeless orphan who made his living robbing people in inner Corneria City. After his third time being arrested for petty theft, he was given the choice of jail time or joining the army to get a lesson in discipline. Tailor reluctantly chose the army, but discovered his true calling in it. He was moved by the sense of honor and camaraderie displayed and stayed in as a career man even when his time was up. Now that he had a clear path, he devoted every second to bettering himself. Officers discovered his extreme talent with a rifle after only the first weeks of basic training and he was transferred to sniper school. He quickly rose to the top of the class, and was transferred to Dagger after the first team was destroyed. The team became his family, the members his brothers. However terrible the outcome, Gage was not surprised to hear of Tailor's distraction to get his team away safely.   
When "Taps" was finished and the command of "order arms" was given, General Pepper, who had volunteered to be the presiding officer, was handed three folded Cornerian flags. He solemnly presented them to the relatives of the three soldiers: For Tien his parents, for Tailor his wife, and for Rho his mother. Gage could vaguely hear Pepper's comments.   
"No words of mine can ease your pain, but may you find solace in the fact that he gave his life for an honorable and just cause. Along with you, a grateful planet mourns your loss."   
While they were good words, Gage found them ironic, since the "honorable and just cause" had been officially written up as a training accident. Pepper gave the final salute, and the three empty caskets of Private Harlan Rho, Private First Class Alec Tailor, and Corporal Tabari Tien were lowered into the ground to join the ranks of courageous souls in their final resting place.   
As the mourners dispersed, Fox and his team walked over to Dagger. He introduced Peppy and Slippy, who were obviously slightly uncomfortable. They felt guilty ever since they came back days ago after hearing about the incident on the news, like they should have been there. Fox told them to stop worrying about it, but it didn't help.   
Fox pulled Gage off to the side, mindful of his slung arm, as Slippy and Peppy talked with Dagger. "How're you doing? How's the team?"   
"Good, we're doing better," Gage replied with a weary sigh. "Rhiain's leg will be good as new in a couple weeks. Beaudoin technically shouldn't be out of the hospital yet, but she refused to miss this."   
Fox nodded. "So what do you guys do now?"   
"Back to work," Gage said with an amused grin. "No parades, no awards, no newspaper headlines. There's a couple thousand kidnapped civilians out there who were forced to work on Overlord, and they're our next objective. No time to rest. We were watching the whole award thing on TV from Beaudoin's hospital room yesterday. Knowing that we helped is reward enough."   
"It's still wrong," Fox replied, shaking his head and remembering the award ceremony, played out exactly like the last time. Only this time, there should've been five other people up there with him. "You guys deserve all the credit."   
Gage shrugged. "So goes the life of ghost teams. We all know it coming in, and we don't mind."   
"Well, I mind," Fox said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out an ornate gold circle on a purple ribbon, the medal he had been awarded. Before Gage could refuse, he took his hand and gave it to him. "I want you to take this and put it somewhere where Dagger can see it every day. Frame it, put it on the wall, something. Ok?"   
Gage wasn't sure what to say, so he just smiled and put it in his pocket. "I'll do that. Thank you, Fox."   
Fox nodded and offered his hand. Gage took it and they shook, but then smiled and embraced. After all they'd been through, it warranted more than a handshake. They were more than just acquaintances, even more than just friends. They had saved each others' lives more than once and fought by each others' sides. That made them the closest thing to brothers than actually sharing the same blood.   
"I guess I'll see you around," Gage said. "What're your plans now?"   
"A long vacation," Fox replied with a grin. "After I visit someone."   
Gage nodded and turned towards his team. "Take care of yourself. Give me a ring if you ever need backup."   
"You take care too."   
Gage joined his team, who had a collective smirk on their faces from the duo's little hug. After a bit of talking, no doubt asking what Fox gave him, Gage produced the medal from his pocket. The five soldiers grinned and stared at it, their eyes softening. They may have taken the oath to fight and die anonymously, but that didn't mean that they don't liked appreciation now and then. To Fox, no one deserved it more.   
With an exchange of waves with Fox, the team walked down through the rows of identical white stone markers. There were too many, stretching too far in every direction, and that day three more joined the crowd. Fox remembered a quote he once heard that true greatness is not what you do while others are watching, but what you do when they are not and no reward is given. If there was ever a prime example, Dagger was it.   
  
  


* * *   
  
  


The rain had let up by time Fox arrived at the cemetery on the other side of the city, and the clouds were parting into clear blue sky. He walked across the moist grass until he was in front of the simple, familiar stone marked "Vicenzia Hohleran." Following his normal greeting to his fiancée, he leaned over, placed both hands on the stone, and kissed it.   
"This cemetery is where this entire ordeal all began," Fox said, righting himself. "And it's also where it will end. I remember what Ike said, about Overlord's birth marking the dawn of his rise. Well, I have my own version. Overlord's destruction marked the dawn of a new beginning, both for me and for Gage."   
Fox looked up as the sun poked through gloom and bathed the cemetery in light. With a smile he looked back down. "I got your message in that dream, Vixy. Thank you for forgiving me…maybe now I can too. It's time I stopped wasting away from your death and started cherishing your memory and our love. Not a day passes where I don't think of you."   
Fox crouched down and ran his hand over the lettering on the stone. "I love you."   
Feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest, Fox stood and turned to leave the cemetery. An era of his life, the most painful and joyful one, had come to an end. What the future held, Fox didn't know. But whatever it was, he felt the strength to meet it head on and make the best of it. Through blood and sweat and tears, the wrong had been righted and the pain was over.   
It was finally over.   
  
  
  
  


**_-The End-_****__**

(See Afterword)   
  



End file.
